Arx carves out Nutricia Deva from Danone

A spokesperson for Arx told unquote" the deal was structured as a management buy-in, with food industry veteran and former managing director of Candy Plus, Keith Dilworth, investing alongside Arx to become CEO of Deva following completion. None of the existing Deva management team will co-invest in the deal, the spokesperson said.

The private equity firm said in a statement it had entered into a binding agreement relating to the acquisition, which will see Danone relinquish control of the group.

Arx said it aims to grow the business organically, as well as use Deva as a platform for growth through complementary bolt-ons. Following the carve-out, Deva has been contracted to continue its production of baby food desserts for Danone, under the Danone brand.

Deva is the fourth investment financed by the Arx CEE IV fund, which held a first close on €54m in July 2016 and is targeting €100m by final close.

Company
Based in Nové Město nad Metují, Nutricia Deva is a Czech manufacturer of fruit-based desserts and drinks for babies.

Formerly part of the Danone group, Deva was founded in 1950 and has an annual capacity of 24,000 tonnes of food.

People
Arx Equity Partners – Brian Wardrop (founder, managing partner).
Nutricia Deva – Keith Dilworth (CEO)

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• CEE
• Arx Equity Partners
• Czech Republic