Frostkrone, the Germany-based supplier of frozen convenience food, is to get a new, private-equity majority shareholder, after French investment company Ardian sold its interest in the company to buy-out house Emeram Capital Partners.
The deal, struck for an undisclosed sum, will see Ardian end an investment it made in 2012. Ardian said it had supported Frostkrone’s moves to expand domestically and internationally, pointing to the company’s presence in 30 markets, a “new, permanent listing with a leading food discounter” and a “permanent supply contract with one of the world’s largest fast food chains”.
Marc Abadir, Ardian’s managing director, said: “Since our initial investment, Frostkrone has expanded its position to become one of the leading providers of finger food and snack products in Europe. This success is down to the new management and brand identity, and improvements to operational procedures, as well as the company’s strong national and international growth.”
Frostkrone CEO Frédéric Dervieux, a former Nestle and DMK executive who joined the business in 2013, said: “With our new owner, we are confident that we will be able to continue our expansion plans and to generate sustained added value with attractive snack products for our customers. The trend towards convenience food products continues and is demonstrated in the continuously increasing demand from our customers.”
Last month, Ardian announced it had taken a minority stake in French frozen sandwich and snack maker Piz’wich.
