Aryzta Group has signed an agreement to sell its North American business to an affiliate of US private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg for $850 million.
The deal includes 100% of the equity and assets of Aryzta’s North American business in the USA and Canada.
The bakery group says the agreement validates “the board’s strategy to remain independent” and “delivers significant debt reduction and balance sheet strength”.
On 1 August, Aryzta’s net debt stood at €1.01 billion and its recent moves form part of its efforts to secure sufficient proceeds to reduce its debt levels. The company’s latest deal comes after it offloaded its North American take and bake pizza unit to private equity firm Brynwood Partners.
Chairman and interim CEO of Aryzta, Urs Jordi, said: “This agreement represents a significant inflection point for Aryzta and vindication of our simplification strategy to the outright sale option.
“I want to thank our shareholders and stakeholders for their confidence and support since September which enabled this transaction to materialise. It now allows us to focus on delivering further operational improvements and returning to organic growth.”
The sale is for a total enterprise value of $850 million, compared to its €734 million takeover offer from US investment firm Elliott which it rejected in December.
“The agreed price reflects well on the underlying quality of the North American businesses, its assets, the significant recovery in performance achieved by the team and bodes well for its future performance prospects under its new owners,” added Jordi.
The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed by the end of Aryzta’s current 2021 financial year.
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