Wallen China blueberry trays

Legend Holdings, the major Chinese investment holdings company that owns Lenovo Group, acquired a majority stake in Wallen Agribusiness, China’s leading blueberry grower-marketer, in October.

Wallen Agribusiness, which is based in Qingdao in Shandong Province, has blueberry plantings covering around 16,000mu (1,066ha), according to Winnie Li, senior manager of marketing for Legend Holdings’ agribusiness division, who told Asiafruit the new owners are now looking to expand the company’s operations.

Legend Holdings signed a strategic cooperation contract with the Qingdao government to further develop commercial blueberry plantations earlier this year, she noted.

Formed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Legend Holdings is a diversified global company with investment holding units in IT, investment and real estate. The best known of these is IT giant Lenovo Group, which has 27,000 employees in more than 160 countries and revenues of US$30bn.

Legend Holdings entered the agribusiness sector in 2010 and also owns kiwifruit company Huaxia Liancheng. It acquired a majority shareholding in Wallen via its subsidiary Jovio, which specialises in investment into, and operation of, businesses in the modern agribusiness field.