Le Cobourg (Belgium) - Oct 2007

GIMV has acquired a 90% stake in Le Cobourg, a Belgian producer of traditional salad spreads, in a management buy-in. The remaining shares will be owned by the new management team. Fortis Bank provided senior debt, including a reserve facility for add-on acquisitions.

Company

Originally a caterer in Brussels, Le Cobourg has become one of the largest producers of salad spreads in Belgium. The company’s traditional fish, meat, chicken and vegetarian salads are distributed to butchers, fresh food counters of shops, snack bars and caterers. Le Cobourg aims to achieve growth not only organically, but also via an active buy and build strategy. The company recently bought DC Products, another salad spread producer focusing on the private label market. The two companies have 55 employees and have jointly realised a turnover of more than €12m.

People

Peter Kloeck, executive investment manager at GIMV, worked on the transaction. The company’s new management team consists of Jan Celis (CEO), Marc De Cock (CFO) and Eugène Meert (sales).

Advisers

Equity - Astrea, Philip Van Den Broecke (Legal)Equity - Mazars, Lieven Acke (Financial Due Diligence)Equity - TAUW, Carine Mingeau (Environmental Due Diligence)Vendor - DeMinor, Jan Bleyen (Financial Due Diligence)

Sourced from: 0 unquote" 54 (Nov 2007)

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• Topics
• Benelux
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• Buy-in/Buyout
• Belgium