Maître Paul BV (Netherlands) - Dec 2007

unquote
01 December 2007

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Fortis Private Equity Special Situations and hands-on management firm Clearwood have wholly acquired frozen pastry producer Maître Paul BV from Nestlé SA. Fortis holds a majority stake. Fortis and Clearwood took part in an auction led by Nestlé where both private equity and strategic houses were involved. The transaction took approximately six months to complete and closed on 11 March 2008. The Special Situations team of Fortis has a preference for companies facing strategic, operational and/ or financial challenges and a minimum of €25m in annual revenues. Rabobank arranged the senior debt financing to support the transaction.

Company

Maître Paul develops and produces frozen pastry on an industrial basis, supplying both the retail and the food service market. It is one of the largest Dutch industrial bakeries for frozen pastries and a market leader in the Dutch retail market. In the Netherlands, most products are sold under its own brand names, Maître Paul and Carnaby, while outside the Netherlands most products are sold under private label. The company is based in Tilburg and employs some 250 people. In 2007, the company generated sales of €34m. Fortis and Clearwood plan to improve the operational performance of the company. The Clearwood team members will provide managerial support on a general, commercial and financial level.

People

Arne Hamers, Alexander de Vries and Kenneth Depuydt led the transaction for Fortis while Maarten Baardse and Jan-Willem Ekelenkamp worked on the transaction for Clearwood.

Advisers

Equity - Cataly, Marcel van Beek, Rob Gores (Environmental Due Diligence)Equity - Deloitte, Arnoud Oltmans, Arthur Goedkoop (Tax)Equity - Deloitte, Arnoud Oltmans, Arthur Goedkoop (Financial Due Diligence)Equity - Houthoff, Michiel Bruinzeel, Michiel Pannekoek (Legal)Vendor - Norton Rose, Marcel van de Vorst, Otto Klaassen (Legal)

Sourced from: Benelux unquote" 58 (Apr 2008)