Slate Asset Management makes €59m Investment in U.K.-based vertical farming business

Slate Asset Management has completed a £50 million (€59 million/$63 million) investment in Eider VF Limited (EVF), a U.K.-based vertical farming business, through its Cities and Communities Impact Infrastructure Strategy.

Founded in 2016, EVF is a vertical farming business based in Birmingham, England, that develops farms growing leafy produce to be sold to the U.K. mass market. EVF’s products are grown in standard warehouses that are augmented to house vertical farms, using standard industrial equipment to create environments in which the plants thrive. EVF has secured long-term partnership agreements with leading manufacturers and suppliers of leafy produce to the U.K. retail and food service markets.

Slate’s investment will be used to fund the construction of EVF’s first five facilities by 2024, which will be built adjacent to existing packing facilities, thereby significantly reducing transport costs. The facilities will be equipped to sustainably grow l