Céréa Partenaire completes spin-out from Unigrains

Francesca Veronesi
06 November 2019

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French agri-food-focused private equity investor Céréa Partenaire has spun out from Unigrains, with its management team now owning the majority of the investment firm.

The company's name has been changed to Cerea Partners.

The firm was previously owned by Unigrains, its sole shareholder since inception in 2004. The management team now owns a 87% stake.

Two historical LPs of Cerea funds, MACSF and SMABTP, respectively own 8.7% and 4.3% of the management company.

Cerea's LPs unanimously approved the management buyout, according to a statement. Unigrains remains an LP in the existing funds and is expected to commit to the next generation of Cerea funds.

The firm's 26 team members will continue to invest the Cerea funds and manage the 44 companies currently in the portfolio. The firm supports small and mid-sized companies across the entire food and beverage value chain through buyout, mezzanine and senior debt financing. Assets under management have gone from €275m in 2014 to €1bn at present.

The firm is currently investing via the €225m Céréa Capital II, €337m Céréa Dette II and €200m Céréa Mezzanine III vehicles.

Cerea now intends to increase its LP base and strengthen its European footprint, primarily in Italy, Spain and Benelux. It will also continue diversifying its investment offering in terms of target company size, as well as investment products.