Beston Global Food Company Limited (BFC) has entered into contracts to acquire 51 per cent of South Australian water business, AQUAEssence .
AQUAEssence is a producer of premium quality bottled water and has been supplying the domestic Australian market since 1998.
According to the Chairman of BFC Dr Roger Sexton, the water is a naturally high alkaline spring water which is sourced from the pure underground aquifers of Mount Gambier. The water has a natural pH of 7.9 compared with most spring waters in Australia which have a pH of 6.0 or less.
AQUAEssence owns the rights to over 140 million litres of water per annum. Currently, only around 1per cent% of this resource is utilised each year by AQUAEssence.
Sexton said that alkaline water is regarded by a number of health experts as having powerful antioxidant properties. It is thought that alkaline water combats and lowers the acidic conditions in our bodies caused by modern diets and helps maintain a healthy, disease fighting system. These experts believe that alkaline water passes through body tissues more efficiently than acidic water and therefore provide superior hydration and nutrition at the cellular level.
He added that AQUAEssence is a very strategic acquisition for BFC and will add to the product range in its health and nutrition division.
The acquisition of the 51% interest in AQUAEssence is on a net asset basis for an amount of $AUD875,300. The cost of the acquisition by BFC is being met from retained funds.
The CEO of BFC, Mr Sean Ebert said that AQUAEssence focussed primarily on selling its products into the domestic Australian market and had not as yet tapped into the opportunities in overseas markets. BFC had undertaken extensive market testing and research on the potential for selling AQUAEssence into China and other Asian markets and had received extremely positive responses.
Tony Gasparini a Director of AQUAEssence said that he is very pleased to have formed a strategic partnership with BFC via the sale of 51per cent of the business.
“The product has been accepted in Australia and the company now wants to expand into the Asian market. With BFC’s extensive knowledge of the Asian market it will assist greatly in promoting and growing the AQUAEssence product range in this market”.