News
Danone eyes sale of cookie business
CTH Invest – a Ferrero-related, Belgian Holding Company – is now in “exclusive negotiations” with Danone to fully acquire the French biscuit maker.
The proposed transaction will be submitted to the relevant employee representative bodies for consultation and is expected to close in the coming months, subject to customary closing conditions.
Rotating portfolio
Danone said the plans to sell the business were part of its commitment to its core priorities and planned to rotate its portfolio more actively.
Commenting to on the proposed acquisition, Danone group deputy chief executive Juergen Esser said: “Michel et Augustin is a much-loved brand, but it falls outside of our investment priorities, in the frame of our Renew Danone strategy.
“This is the best way to create long term value while giving Michel et Augustin the opportunity to thrive under the leadership of a Ferrero-related company”.
A spokesman for Ferrero said the acquisition would ‘strengthen its ecosystem’ in France following a recent string of acquisitions by the confectionery manufacturer – Burton’s Biscuits in 2021, Kelsen Group in 2019 and Delacre in 2016.
Michel et Augustin
Michel et Augustin markets premium sweet biscuits, savory biscuits and snacks that are sold mainly in France and in six other markets. The business was founded in the French market in 2004 by Augustin Paluel-Marmont and Michel de Rovira, before being acquired by Danone.
In other acquisition news, food ingredients manufacturer JF Renshaw has been rescued from administration by British Bakels.
Rick Harrison and Will Wright from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators to JF Renshaw and its parent company Real Good Food on 4 December 2023. The sale was completed immediately after the administrators were appointed, with the jobs of 187 employees being transferred over to British Bakels as part of the deal.
