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Belgian family-owned food group Vandemoortele has announced it will acquire Italian bakery specialist Dolciaria Acquaviva from private equity firm Apheon.
In a statement released this week, Vandemoortele said the deal will fortify its position in the Italian frozen bakery market and accelerate its growth. It will enable the group to offer customers a range of innovations across a larger set of categories including bread, savoury specialities, pastries and patisserie.
Dolciaria Acquaviva was founded in 1979 by the Acquaviva family. It has since developed a widespread product portfolio in the frozen bakery category and now operates through four industrial plants in Italy.
The company is headquartered in Gricignano di Aversa, Caserta, with a workforce of around 200 employees overall and a turnover of around €120 million in 2023. Its founder, Pierluigi Acquaviva, will continue to be part of the company’s future as chairman of the board of directors.
Yvon Guérin, CEO of Vandemoortele, said: “We will combine our strengths and expertise to drive continued growth. This combination will allow us to create powerful synergies in terms of product portfolio, brands, innovation and distribution in one of the countries where Vandemoortele has been active for some time, and which makes a substantial contribution to the group’s total turnover.”
Apheon acquired a majority stake in Dolciaria Acquaviva in July 2019, aiming to strengthen the company’s production capabilities and its direct route-to-market across Italy. The pan-European mid-market private equity firm said that while the Covid-19 pandemic caused ‘inevitable slow-downs,’ Apheon saw an opportunity to make several strategic moves including the completion of two acquisitions and investment into a new production line.
Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, Apheon reported that Acquaviva was able to maintain strong margins and cash flow generation, resulting in revenues and EBITDA more than doubling over Apheon’s holding period.
Emanuele Lembo, senior partner at Apheon, commented: “We have been very privileged to support Pierluigi Acquaviva over the years. Leveraging Apheon’s partnership model with founders and entrepreneurs, we have successfully made Dolciaria Acquaviva a best-in-class company. The combination with Vandemoortele is now the right step in building an even stronger player in the industry with wide international reach.”
Dolciaria Acquaviva’s founder, Pierluigi Acquaviva, commented: “We are very happy about the combination of Dolciaria Acquaviva and Vandemoortele in Italy as it will generate exciting opportunities for our customers, partners and employees. There is a complementary fit in product range, channel presence and industrial footprint”.
He added: “Apheon has been an invaluable part of our story, upholding their reputation as a strong partner in the Italian market with deep expertise in the food sector, and I’d like to thank them for all their support.
The transaction, the terms of which have not been disclosed, is expected to close soon.