Acquisition of VSM Automatisering by FarmTrace

Yuno Advisors advised FarmTrace – an American specialist in the collection, measurement and analysis of data in the food industry – on the acquisition of VSM Automatisering, a Dutch developer of specialized management software for the agricultural sector.

VSM Automatisering (www.ruma-vsm.nl) has been developing specialized management software under the brand name RUMA since 1990, which is mainly used in the agricultural sector at cattle farms, veal farms, pig farms and livestock and feed traders. ELDA ICT & Services (www.elda.nl), specialist in management software for goat and sheep farmers, is also part of VSM. VSM’s software can be found at approximately 80% of the dairy farms in the Benelux, which means that VSM can rightly call itself a leading player in this segment.

FarmTrace (www.farmtrace.com) based in Irvine, California, and founded by CEO Chris van den Berg, is a specialist in the collection, measurement and analysis of data in the food industry. The data analysis contributes to full traceability of the food within the supply chain. Through a proprietary software platform, customers can access all important data and gain in-depth insights about the origin of their products. With the acquisition of VSM Automatisering, FarmTrace gains access to a wealth of data collected by the management software within the dairy companies in the Benelux and offers new opportunities for both FarmTrace and VSM to realize further developments. At present, approximately 90% of the group’s customers concern a total of 20,000 agricultural companies in Europe, which should be increased fivefold within 5 years to 100,000 customers, of which more than half in the US. FarmTrace recently completed a $12 million investment round and further strengthened its management team with Kelby Kleinasser (COO) and Kim Connors (CFO).

Yuno Advisors has assisted FarmTrace in the acquisition as financial advisor. Our services included among other things, structuring of the transaction, financial analysis, the preparation of a letter of intent and supervision of the due diligence process.

Click here to view the original (Dutch) press release.