Groupe Poult: Biscuit Maker Gets New Investor

Paris / FR. (cmcic) Toulouse-based company Poult is France’s leading producer of private label biscuits and, after acquiring Dutch waffle specialist BanketGroep in July 2016, is welcoming a new investor – CM-CIC Investissement – to support its growth strategy in France and Europe.

Poult, founded in 1883, is France’s second-largest biscuit producer and the leading player in the private label segment with a 35 percent market share. It has a diverse product range consisting of nine biscuit categories (cookies, breakfast biscuits, chocosticks, tarts …). The company, led by its chairman Mehdi Berrada, has in recent years focused on developing innovative products. It employs 800 people and has five factories in France, in the Tarn-et-Garonne, Finistère, Landes and Loiret regions.

Waffle specialist BanketGroep, which joined the Poult group in the summer of 2016, was set up in 1930 in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The company exports most of its production and has become Europe’s leading producer of caramel and Belgian-style waffles, with a 50 percent market share. It employs 400 people across six production sites.

The combined company will have consolidated revenue of 300 million EUR, of which exports will account for 45 percent.

CM-CIC Investissement is investing 25 million EUR, and is joining a pool of investors led by Qualium Investissement, the majority shareholder alongside management, to support the creation of Europe’s leading private label biscuit producer. The new group is considering acquisitions in other European countries, but also in promising new healthy biscuits segment.

«We were attracted by the quality of the management team and the excellent fit between the two companies», explained Stéphane Vermot-Desroches and Antoine Arlet, CM-CIC Investissement. «They complement each other very well in geographical locations, because they address different countries, and in product terms, because they operate in distinct categories in which each of them has a dominant position. There is major scope for generating synergies, in terms of both commercial strategy and sharing expertise, which means that it can enter new segments of the European market, such as gluten-free and organic products», they added.

«We are delighted to be welcoming CM-CIC Investissement as an investor. The group is already a leading player in the European private label biscuit market, and CM-CIC’s Investment’s support will help with its sector consolidation strategy», said Guillaume Peroz, Director, Qualium Investissement.

About CM-CIC Investissement

Venture capital, growth capital, buyout capital, M+A advisory: CM-CIC Investissement meets the needs of businesses in all areas of equity financing. Together with our professionalism, the success of our approach stems from our strong focus on people, our close ties with business leaders and the long-term support we provide to investee companies. CM-CIC Investissement invests its own capital (almost 2.4 billion EUR) and its investment portfolio consists of around 450 companies.