Italy pasta maker Divella aims to sell 30% stake to a strategic partner
08/09/2021 13:16
By Giancarlo Navach
MILAN, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The family owners of Italian pasta
maker Divella are considering the sale of a 30% stake in the
company to a strategic partner who will help the group to expand
abroad, the group's Co-Chief Executive Officer Vincenzo Divella
told Reuters.
The sector enjoyed a rise in global demand last year as
lockdowns induced by the pandemic pushed consumers to cook more
at home.
Producers in mature markets, such as Italy, are particularly
keen on strengthening their position in countries with low pasta
consumption to benefit from expected future growth.
Divella, who is also a shareholder, said on Wednesday that
the group controlled by his family plans to hire advisory firm
Vitale & Co to find a strategic partner.
"The Italian market is at a standstill, we need to work more
abroad... for this reason we are willing to consider a strategic
partnership with someone able to help sell our products in
America and China", Divella said in a phone interview.
He added that the owners were planning to sell "initially" a
30% stake in the group.
Italy's third-biggest pasta maker, which is based in the
southern region of Puglia, reported revenue of more than 300
million euros ($354.5 million) last year, 35% of it abroad.
Private equity firms and industrial players such as Italy's
food group Newlat NWLF.MI could be interested in Divella, a
source close to the matter said. However the sale of a minority
stake could be less appealing than a majority one, he added.
The sector, which is grappling with a rise in the prices of
raw materials, has recently attracted the interest of private
equity firms.
At the end of July Spain's pasta maker Ebro Foods EBRO.MC
agreed to sell parts of its France-based Panzani unit to buyout
fund CVC in a transaction valued at 550 million euros.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2P209H
Italy is the biggest consumer of pasta worldwide, with
around 23 kgs (50.7 lb) of pasta per capita every year,
according to an International Pasta Organisation report.
($1 = 0.8462 euros)
(Additional reporting and writing by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by
Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
((elisa.anzolin@thomsonreuters.com; 0039 0266129692;))