The IUF's Private Equity Buyout Watch

Investor acquires German candy maker
FoodNavigator.com
By Catherine Boal 11/04/2007

German equity investment company Arques has taken over confectionery firm van Netten in yet another example of private investors moving into the food industry sphere.

By gaining control of the confectionery maker, which generates revenues of around €70 million each year, Arques hope to increase its own group profits to €1.4 billion.

Van Netten produces fruit gums, jellies, sweets and sugar coated candies. The company, based in Dortmund, supplies trade chains with private and store brands throughout the key markets of Germany, Eastern Europe and the EU.

Arques executive chairman Dr Peter Löw said: "With the confectionery manufactuerer, van Netten, we have acquired a traditional company which has been firmly established on the market for years.

"Van Netten is not only a partner to the trade but also to the industry and is considered a reliable and competent service provider which has already developed numerous confectionery innovations."

Arques specialises in the acquisition of medium-sized businesses in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, concentrating on those with revenues of at least €250 million. The van Netten buy-out is its fifth this year and others are planned in order to meet the group's 2007 annual revenue target of €1.5 billion.

Private equity companies have increasingly been turning their attention to the food sector as an area of lucrative growth.

In the UK, the second largest biscuit manufacturer Burton's was the subject of a tussle between two leading equity firms earlier this year.

The British group, Duke Capital, acquired the biscuit maker in a deal worth around €200 million while another leading biscuit producer, United Biscuits, was acquired by a consortium involving Blackstone and PAI at the end of last year and Lion Capital targeted crisp company Kettle in September.

ARQUES PRESS RELEASE
Arques Takes Over Confectionery Manufacturer, van Netten
Source: ARQUES Industries AG 10/04/2007

Starnberg, 4 April 2007 - The equity investment company ARQUES Industries AG has taken over all shares in the Dortmund-based confectionery manufacturer, van Netten GmbH. Seller is Zuckerfabrik Jülich AG, which is to concentrate on its core business in the future. The transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant cartel authorities.

The company, van Netten GmbH, founded in 1918 and based in Dortmund, is a manufacturer of confectionery and generated revenues to the value of approximately EUR 70 million. Van Netten supplies large trade chains and discounters with private brands and store brands. The target markets of the confectionery manufacturer are Germany, the European Union and Eastern Europe. The company specialises in the production of fruit gums, jellies, confectionery, sweets and sugar-coated candy. Within the context of the transaction, ARQUES acquires, among other things, an almost 100,000 square meter large property on which storage and production facilities are located.

"With the confectionery manufacturer, van Netten, we have acquired a traditional company which has been firmly established on the market for years. Van Netten is not only a partner to the trade but also to the industry and is considered a reliable and competent service provider which has already developed numerous confectionery innovations", said ARQUES executive chairman, Dr. Dr. Peter Löw.

The company was taken over in accordance with the ARQUES philosophy. The acquisition of van Netten GmbH is already the fifth transaction of the ARQUES group in 2007. Companies with a revenue volume of approximately EUR 250 million have been acquired. ARQUES expects to buy additional companies with revenues of EUR 800 million in the current financial year. By way of the acquisition of van Netten, the ARQUES annualised annual group revenues rise to approximately EUR 1.4 billion. At the press conference on March 30, ARQUES affirmed its target for 2007 of generating consolidated annual revenues of EUR 1.5 billion as well as an EBITDA of EUR 180 million.