Just Food

Daily Newsletter

10 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

Mexico’s Sigma Alimentos sells Italian operation to German, Irish investors

Sigma said it wants to focus on core European markets.

Sigma Alimentos, the Mexico-based food group, has exited the Italian market after selling its cured meat brand Fiorucci to German investor Navigator Capital and Irish counterpart White Park Capital Partners.

It said the sale - for an undisclosed sum - is part of a “comprehensive plan aimed at enhancing profitability and growth in Europe" and is “another decisive step towards optimising Sigma’s footprint by focusing on core European markets”.

The deal includes the Fiorucci brand, production facilities in Rome and Parma and associated operations in Germany.

Sigma said these operations and brands contributed approximately 2% to Sigma’s consolidated revenues in 2022.

Fiorucci has been owned by Sigma since 2015.

Düsseldorf-based Navigator Group focuses on the acquisition of non-core assets of large industrial groups and corporate succession, while Dublin-based White Park Capital Partners is a family investment holding company investing in carve-outs from large multinationals.

The investors said their aim is to “relaunch the offer and distribution of the products of the historic Fiorucci brand in the reference channels in Italy and abroad by virtue of an important long-term investment and recovery plan”.

They added: “The goal is to bring a company and a brand that is 170 years old back to profitability and to growth appropriate to its potential.”

Christian Muschick, CEO of the Navigator Group, said: “Fiorucci is synonymous with values we admire: tradition, goodness, joie de vivre, quality. This is a strategic engagement aimed at strengthening our position in the food sector.”

Sigma - part of Mexican conglomerate Alfa - has a diversified food portfolio that includes more than 100 brands across categories such as packaged meats, dairy and frozen foods. It operates in Mexico, Europe, the US and Latin America.

In May, Sigma revealed it had bought a majority stake in US-based Hispanic cheese and cream manufacturer Los Altos Food Products.

Sigma has 65 manufacturing facilities and 44,000 employees. Its annual revenue in 2022 was $7.4bn.

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