March 27 (SeeNews) - French food industry ingredients maker Solina Group said on Monday it has acquired Romanian spice producer Supremia Grup for an undisclosed sum.
Solina will take over Supremia Grup from Levente Hugo Bara, the founder and owner of the company, it said in a press release.
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The agreement is subject to approval by anti-trust authorities which is expected to take place in the coming months, it added.
For Solina, the acquisition represents the latest step in its external growth strategy in the European food industry.
“This deal is a major step for us, particularly in Eastern Europe, and Supremia will become our regional center there. We are committed to expanding across Europe through a build-up strategy in all major markets, and this acquisition perfectly fits our network of service centers across the continent and beyond,” Solina's CEO Laurent Weber said.
Supremia built an impressive portfolio of solutions and seasoning offers together with a state-of-the-art factory in Alba Iulia and has also developed a strategic spices supply chain, he added.
Following the acquisition, the current management team of Supremia will stay in place, Solina said.
“Supremia is today an important player in the European food ingredients market showing very fast growth in the last 15 years based on an efficient management system and a strongly motivated team. I realize that maintaining such direction and growth alone as shareholder became more and more difficult and I decided a year ago to find the right partner for Supremia,” Levente Hugo Bara said.
Founded in 2000 in Alba Iulia, central Romania, Supremia produces and distributes food ingredients and spices and is now active in Eastern and Western European markets. Since 2015, it is also present in the Scandinavian region, after acquiring Danish peer companies Tamaco Trading and Tamaco Pak.
Supremia employs over 300 people at its factory in Alba Iulia and posted sales of 52.1 million euro ($56.6 million) in 2016.
Solina Group was founded in 1988 in France and currently develops nutritional solutions for the global food market as well as culinary and aromatic solutions, such as stocks, culinary extracts and aromas, sauces. The company is present in Romania since 2011, through an office in Bucharest.
In February 2016, independent private investment company Ardian acquired a majority stake in Solina Group. At the end of last year, Solina signed an agreement to take over New Ivory, a leading producer of culinary sauces in the UK for the meat, fish and poultry industries.
($=0.9202 euro)