Spain’s Ebro Foods has accepted an offer from CVC investment fund for Panzani’s dry noodle business worth €550 million, in a transaction that will generate a total capital gain of €91 million.
This was reported on Monday by the company to the National Securities Exchange Commission (CNMV), which determined the exclusion of fresh pasta and rice lines of the said brand from the operation, which will remain under the control of the group.
The company revealed that it had received a “binding offer” from CVC Capital Partners for dry pasta, semolina, couscous and sauces from Panzani, a French brand it acquired in 2005.
Incorporating Panzani’s entire business into Ebro Foods would imply disbursement of 639 million (of which 302 million was debt) at the time.
However, the sale is “subject to information and consultation with representatives of workers in France, for regulatory licenses and approval of the general meeting of shareholders of Ebro Foods,” according to those same sources.
In addition to Panzani, the Spanish company – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of rice and pasta – will rid itself of the Ferrero, Regia, Zakia and Le Renard brands; The operation also includes the factories of Vitrolles, La Montre and Nanterre, as well as those of Gennevilliers and St. Just and “Littoral”.
According to their data, the French company’s dry pasta business employs about 750 workers, had sales of 470 million euros in 2020 and had an adjusted operating result of 57 million last year.
According to their calculations, this divestiture – which will be carried out before the end of the 2021 fiscal year – will bring a total capital gain for Ebro Foods of €91 million.
In March, the French economic newspaper reverberation It reported that Lustucru and Britain’s CVC have teamed up to launch a bid for Panzani.
Ebro Foods officials, for their part, emphasized in the statement that the deal allows the group to “continue to focus its resources on promoting its ‘premium’, fresh and convenient business, of which the company is a world leader.”
The Spanish company had already sold a portion of its US and Canadian business at the end of 2020, a year that closed with revenues of more than €3,200 million and profits of €192 million.
