Europastry’s IPO is back on the table as the Spain-based frozen bakery business seeks to raise as much as €555m ($618.3m).
The IPO has been approved by the market regulator – Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) – with the book-building process starting today (27 September) ahead of a target listing date on 10 October.
Barcelona-headquartered Europastry, which put the share plan on hold in the summer due to “market volatility”, has priced the shares at an indicative range of €15.85 to €18.75.
A listing is planned on the Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao and Valencia stock exchanges.
Europastry, which posted a turnover last year of €1.3bn, said it plans to use the funds raised to reduce debt and to “capture potential investments for inorganic growth opportunities, such as mergers and acquisitions”.
Founded in 1987 by Pere Gallés, the family-owned business has been active in M&A, giving the company 27 production facilities supplying more than 80 different markets.
In the IPO filing, Europastry revealed it struck an acquisition in March for DeWi Back Holding, a Germany-based frozen bakery products business. More recently in August, it said it snapped up De Groot Edelgebak, a Dutch distributor of frozen breads and pastries.
Other deals have included the frozen bakery business of US-based Dawn Foods in 2022, while in 2019 Europastry invested in Spanish pizza business Casa Bona. The same year it took full ownership of foodservice bakery supplier Ingapan and in 2018 acquired Portuguese business Confeitaria Torres.
With a portfolio taking in bread, pizza, pies, pastries and sandwiches, turnover grew 20% in 2023 for the owner of brands such as Dots, Sophie and Panburger.
Retail accounted for 56% of Europastry’s turnover last year, while the out-of-home channel made up 32% and B2B customers the remainder.
Turnover so far this year, amounted to €714m at the end of June, while adjusted EBITDA stood at €114m. Europastry is targeting turnover growth of low-to-mid teens for the full year.
The IPO consists of both primary and secondary share offerings.
Europastry’s secondary tranche consists of shares owned by investment firms connected with the Gallés family, namely Exponent, owned by the MCH Continuation Fund under the umbrella of MCH Private Equity, based in Madrid.
Indinura, owned by Europastry CEO Jordi Morral, is also part of the secondary contingent, whereby the family will remain controlling shareholders post-IPO.
