08/07/2011
VC/PE FIRMS AND INDUSTRIAL INVESTORS INTERESTED IN BIMBO’S SALE.
Bimbo’s selling process, the manufacturer of bread and bakery snacks owned by U.S. multinational Sara Lee, has attracted the interest from several private equity firms and industrial investors, in a deal that could be valued between 175 and €215 million.
Among those are Magnum Industrial Partners, Portobello Capital or MCH Private Equity. The latter has announced in recent days its entry in Europastry, the largest Spanish frozen bread and pastry (see news). The list of industrial investors interested in Bimbo would be composed by Panrico, Panasa (controlled by Mercapital and Artá Capital (see news) or Dulcesol, and the internationals, Bimbo México, Barilla, CSM or Aryzta. The deadline for submission of non-binding bids ends later this month, in order to close in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The sales mandates is held by Rabobank/Rothschild.
Bimbo activity in Spain and Portugal is developed through two companies, Bimbo SA and Sara Lee Bakery Iberian. At June 30, 2010, Bimbo had a negative result of 11.7 million, while Sara Lee Bakery Iberian, with the latest data available at June 30, 2009, got a 4.3 million profit. In both 2010 and 2011, the results of bakery and pastry business of Sara Lee in the Peninsula have been affected by exceptional costs of restructuring. The company forecasts in 2012, after the end of the restructuring, to improve slightly its profitability.