PE-backed Savena and Sfinc to merge

Greg Gille
03 January 2012

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Food ingredients manufacturers Savena (owned by IK Investment Partners) and Sfinc (owned by AXA Private Equity) have announced their merger.

The merger will almost double the size of Savena and enable it to expand its geographical footprint. The group will operate under the Savena Sfinc name going forward.

Debt
Crédit Agricole and BNP Paribas arranged a debt package to fund the merger. Mezzanine financing was provided by Alcentra, LFPI and Céréa Gestion.

Previous funding
IK Investment Partners acquired Savena from Azulis Capital and Céréa Capital in July 2011. Back in 2008, AXA Private Equity teamed up with management and Axxess Partners to purchase a majority stake in Sfinc from Gimv.

Company
Savena was established in 1988 and offers ingredient-based culinary solutions for the food industry. The company operates in four business areas: taste solutions, meat solutions, nutrition and food service. Headquartered in Bréal-sous-Montfort, the company is also present in Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Italy as well as having operations in Asia and Russia.

Belgium-based Sfinc was founded in 2004 as a result of a merger between Belgian companies Rejo and Pellicula. The company produces and distributes spices, marinades and functional food ingredient blends for food processing companies.

Both businesses achieved double-digit growth rates in 2011, according to their respective owners.

People
Dan Soudry, Rémi Buttiaux, Arnaud Bosc, Bart Borms and Michael Vervisch represented IK Invetsment Partners on the transaction. Arnaud Dufer, Alexis Lavaillote and Caroline Pihan worked on the deal for AXA Private Equity.