Tipiak said the bid price for a controlling stake in the French food group by local cooperative Terrena has been revised lower.
Agri-food co-op Terrena, which owns brands including Pere Dodu chicken, has been eyeing a 77.95% interest in publicly-listed Tipiak, with the offer put at €88 ($95.19) a share in October.
Talks are ongoing but at a lower offer price of €82 a share for the majority stake, Tipiak said in a Euronext filing on 30 November. Should that bid be successful, Terrena will seek to acquire the rest of the business at the original price of €88.
The transaction for the 77.95% interest, will however, be subject to competition approval in France. Tipiak’s majority shareholders who have agreed to the “exclusive” talks with Terrena include the companies Maison Groult and Société de Gestion Billard, along with Mr. Hubert Grouès.
Nantes-based Tipiak, which has a portfolio including prepared foods, frozen ready-made meals, desserts and artisan bread, revealed the revised bid in the filing contained a cautionary note on its annual turnover.
The sum is likely to come in at “close” to €230m, while the company’s gross operating surplus is expected to be “significantly less” than €16m.
In 2022, Tipiak recorded revenues of €239.4m, an increase of 13% year-on-year, while the gross operating surplus rose 13.4% to €21.1m. Net income of €4.1m was up slightly from €4m a year earlier.
Tipiak advised in September that the business was seeing a decline in sales of chilled catering products, especially from “a major international client”, which would have a “significant impact” on its annual 2023 results.
The company also pointed to inflation weighing on “food consumption” in its home market and overseas.
“The group has since noted that the drop in consumption and demand
of customers has increased in France,” Tipiak said in the 30 November filing.
France’s statistics agency Insee reported a further slowing in food inflation in its monthly report in November, as measured by the consumer price index.
Food prices eased for a seventh straight month in October, coming in at an annual rate of 7.8%, compared to 9.7% in September. The headline CPI measure cooled to 4% from 4.9%.
Tipiak’s year-to-date turnover was down 6% at €166m at the end of October, with the chilled sector down 11%, the company said in its November filing. Group volumes by tons were 9% lower, with dry goods volumes down 7% and chilled 15%.
