History

How we become your partner in emerging markets

In 1975, Joan Larive was engaged by the Algemene Bank Nederland (predecessor of ABN AMRO) to obtain a banking license in Japan. He experienced various challenges from a regulatory, language, and business culture perspective. He, therefore, decided to employ a team of local Japanese experts with a background in the financial sector, allowing him to reach his goal. The birth of our business concept. Soon after, Joan and his family established a network of representatives in the emerging markets in Asia, a franchise-based model with (exclusive) members per country – the Larive Group. Each member is owned and managed by local entrepreneurs (ethnic locals or localised foreigners) with deep roots in the country, strong local networks and a broad understanding of the local business environment. Over the last five decades, the Larive Group has evolved along with macro-economic developments globally and will do so for the decades to come.

Here we are

In 2018, the leadership of Larive International transitioned to the fourth-generation owners. The three current partners have all grown through the ranks of Larive. The company is headquartered in the Netherlands from where we serve our clients.

Nowadays, the Larive Group is represented in 24 countries throughout Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and Sub-Saharan Africa, altogether bundling the capabilities of over 300 strategic business development experts.

We are proud to serve many leading Western-headquartered companies with becoming more successful in emerging markets. Although being an industry generalist, Larive typically has a strong position in the agri-food, automotive/mobility, and energy sectors.

In addition, Larive is successfully implementing Public-Private Partnerships in emerging markets in Asia and Africa in the field of agri-food. The added value of our activities is that we realise public policy goals through corporate strategies.

Our clients value us for:

  • Our entrepreneurial attitude and taking ownership.
  • We get things done by being proactive and hands-on.
  • We develop and maintain partnerships built on trust and mutual respect.
  • We achieve a deep understanding of the business opportunities for our clients and convert this into winning strategies (growth acceleration).

Our direction

It is our ambition to develop a leading position in Agri & food production, more sustainable protein production (aquaculture and alt-proteins), sustainable mobility solutions (EV and smart grids), and energy efficiency (renewables and circularity). By doing so we aim to become the most valued strategic business development advisory firm specialised in assisting Western-headquartered companies in developing and implementing their market entry or expansion strategies in(to) emerging markets.