Barcelona / ES. (pres) Funds advised by Apax Partners have acquired, through the company Iberian Foods, the Aragonese industrial bakery company La Bella Easo SL, which to date has been owned by the Italian Barilla Group. With this acquisition, La Bella Easo has joined the group of companies controlled by Iberian Foods in Spain, the largest of which is Panrico SLU.
The acquisition includes the Zaragoza production plant, which has a 35’000-ton per year production capacity. In 2008, La Bella Easo´s net turnover in industrial bakery and bread products amounted to 46,1 million EUR. The company´s main products include fairy cakes, sweet rolls and the full range of the Doo Wap brand, which is owned by Barilla and licensed to La Bella Easo for exclusive use in Spain. The Barilla group will continue operating on the Spanish market with its Barilla (pasta and sauces) and Wasa (crunchy bread) brands.
La Bella Easo originated in 1968 with a small bakery in La Puebla de Alfindén (Zaragoza). In 1972, it began industrial production, which it expanded in 1987 on the Malpica industrial estate. In the early nineties it was absorbed into the French group Harry´s, which manufactures and sells sandwich bread and bakery products. In January 2008, upon the merger of Harry´s and Barilla, Barilla assumed 100 percent ownership of La Bella Easo.
