CIC – KVC partnership to drop middleman

CIC Agri Business (Pvt) Ltd’s acquisition of a majority stake in Kelani Valley Canneries (KVC), a subsidiary of D. Samson Industries (DSI) will allow KVC to eliminate the middleman, according to a top DSI official. CIC Agri is part of the giant CIC group. “This is a joint venture between CIC and KVC which will benefit KVC with a direct supply source,” Mahinda Rajapaksa, Director KVC told The Sunday Times FT.

He said CIC has 4,000 acres of fruit and vegetable farms, from which KVC can benefit. “We were struggling for a supply source, because we were buying from the market which was expensive. This partnership will forgo the middleman,” he added. Rajapaksa did not disclose the amount of shares divested to CIC and the sum involved, but a source close to CIC said that the company acquired 60 percent of KVC from DSI.

The CIC source said the KVC chairmanship currently with DSI will eventually be passed to B.R.L. Fernando, Chairman CIC. KVC, which was initially a family business was owned by the Seneviratne family until the DSI group came into the picture. Now a 20 percent shareholding of KVC is owned by Chula Seneviratne, a descendant. KVC has a product portfolio of jams, cordials, sources, chutneys, fresh fruit juices, pickles and sambols.