La Doria, the investor-backed Italian food group, has snapped up sauces and pesto business Clas.
Majority-owned by a unit of private-equity firm InvestIndustrial since 2022, La Doria said it has reached an agreement with another investor, Equinox in Luxembourg, to acquire 90% of Clas.
The remaining 10% will be purchased from the Italy-based agri-food group Cominter. La Doria, which generated €1.23bn ($1.33bn) in revenue last year, did not disclose the price it is paying for the ownership of Clas.
Based in the Chiusanico commune in Liguria, Clas posted a turnover of €75m in 2023. Founded in 1989, the company produces Italian pesto, which makes up almost 90% of revenue, ready-made pasta sauces and condiments for private-label customers.
Clas operates out of a single production site in Chiusanico employing around 150 people. It has offices in Germany, France and the UK, with the international market accounting for 90% of total sales. The company also serves as a co-manufacturing partner.
La Doria has built up its business through M&A, and now supplies canned pulses and tomatoes, ready-made soups and canned pasta, along with fresh juices via a 2004 deal for Sanafrutta.
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Like Clas, La Doria is mainly engaged in own-label for major retailers.
Chairman and CEO Antonio Ferraioli said: “This transaction represents a significant milestone in our strategy to expand into synergistic sectors that are strategic for our growth.
“We are therefore confident that the acquisition will enable the La Doria group to lay solid foundations for further expansion in the private label ambient pesto market and in the co-packing sector.”
Massimiliano Monti, a partner at Equinox, said the private-equity firm invested in Clas three and a half years ago and is now handing off to “a leading global operator like La Doria”.
La Doria was set up in 1954 and operates out of six production plants in Italy. As well as private label, the business owns its namesake brand, along with the La Romanella sauces line, Cook Italia prepared meals and Vivi G juices.
Key export markets include the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand. In 1997, La Doria formed a joint venture with the UK’s Gerber Foods before going on to acquire the business in full the following year.
Revenue in 2023 increased 20.6%. A more detailed analysis of the company’s financial results was put forward for the first quarter to 31 March 2024.
Over the year-earlier quarter, revenue increased 3.8% to €319.6m. La Doria reported an adjusted EBITDA of €42m versus a normalised EBITDA of €33.3m.
Net profit rose 24% to €25.8m.
