New owner: private equity or Asian?
The targeted selling price is almost ten times the expected earnings for
2011 (325 million euro) and nearly three times the expected full yearturnover of 1.1 billion euro. The exact business figures will be
released in April. Among the possible buyers are, according to analysts,
both private equity funds like Blackstone or BC Partners, and Asian
companies looking to take over a European food icon.
Current owners Permira bought Iglo from the British-Dutch food giantUnilever for 1.7 billion euro in 2006. Since then, the Iglo group has
been expanding rapidly, incorporating the Italian branch of competitorFindus in 2010 and witnessing profit growths of 8% and more per year
since 2008.
Market leader throughout Europe
Iglo Group is market leader in frozen foods in Austria, Belgium,
Germany, Italy, Portugal, the UK and Turkey; number two in Ireland and
the Netherlands and number five in France. The group is also expanding
rapidly in Central and Eastern Europe, serving the Bulgaria, Czech
Republic, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
