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Swiss dairy giant Emmi has entered into a put option agreement for the potential acquisition of French dessert firm Mademoiselle Desserts, for a total value of €900 million.

Adding sweet bakery manufacturer Mademoiselle Desserts, which specialises in premium patisserie products, to the Emmi portfolio would enable it to continue to expand its market presence in the premium desserts category as part of its focused internationalisation strategy.

Mademoiselle Desserts has a leading market position in the European dessert market with twelve production facilities in France, the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium. Mademoiselle Desserts generated annual sales of around €420 million in 2023 with a workforce of approximately 2,000 employees.

Emmi has built up significant dessert expertise in the last ten years through mergers and acquisitions. Today, the premium dessert business accounts for 9% of Emmi’s total sales.

Ricarda Demarmels, CEO of the Emmi Group, said: “With the contemplated acquisition of the Mademoiselle Desserts Group, we have the ambition of strengthening our strategic premium desserts category and, as ‘category captain’ and preferred business partner, will be able to offer our customers an innovative and high-quality full range. This strategically important step would allow us to exploit the global growth opportunities in the premium desserts category and take our portfolio transformation further.”

She continued: “We aim to unite...the French dessert-making and patisserie from Mademoiselle Desserts with the dessert creations of our...innovative American- and Latin-inspired desserts from Italy and the US under the Emmi Group umbrella. We are delighted to have this opportunity through the contemplated transaction to welcome Mademoiselle Desserts to our group."

Didier Boudy, current CEO of Mademoiselle Desserts, added: “We are truly delighted and excited about the prospect of joining our Italian and American colleagues from the Emmi Group and uniting our dessert expertise. Together, we would grow the desserts business with a fabulous range of iconic products.”

Under the deal, Boudy (Mademoiselle Desserts’ current CEO) would assume responsibility for the new Emmi ‘Desserts Powerhouse’, which would bring together the Mademoiselle Desserts Group with existing Emmi Dessert companies from Italy and the US, to advance the strategic development of the dessert business.

The completion of the transaction is subject to the consultation of the relevant employee representative bodies of Mademoiselle Desserts and the approval by the relevant competition authorities and regulatory authorities.

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