Spain-based manufacturer Ebro Foods has confirmed it is open to offers for its North American pasta business.
Reports yesterday (27 February) suggested the division – which has annual revenue of EUR400m (US$439.4m) – could be sold to funds or firms in the US and Canada, and that its board had initiated contacts that could lead to a sale.
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Ebro confirmed the news in a brief response to a query from just-food.
It said in a statement: “Ebro is open to start hearing offers for the sale of the North American pasta business, but we are not giving any more details at this point.”
Ebro released its 2019 financial results yesterday which revealed sales increased 7.6% year-on-year to EUR2.81bn while EBITDA was up 11.5% at EUR342.7m.
Speaking about its pasta division as part of its results commentary, Ebro said: “Commodity harvests were poor in all production areas except Spain and France, pushing prices up steeply in the second half of the year.”
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By GlobalDataIt added that its healthier pasta products performed well in Canada, while in the US, business returned to normal after the difficulties encountered by its north east distribution hub, with positive effects on profit and sales in the last quarter of the year.
The Tilda rice owner’s North American pasta business, New World Pasta Co., is based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It has owned the business since 2006. It was combined with the company’s rice businesses Riviana Foods and American Rice in 2016.
Its flagship pasta brand in the US is Ronzoni.
