Highly acquisitory Spanish food group Sos Cuetara has snapped up Italian olive-oil maker Carapelli Firenze for EUR127.7m (US$154.2m), the company announced late Monday (27 March).
The acquisition is part of Sos’s ambitious expansion in the global olive oil market. It comes shortly after the Madrid-based company closed its EUR62.7m purchase of Minerva, an Italian olive oil producer with a big presence in the US – a market where Sos is keen to grow.
With sales of EUR256m last year, Carapelli’s US subsidiary controls 8% of the market.
As part of the deal, Sos will assume Carapelli’s EUR36m in debt.
Sos, which also makes rice and cookies, is growing strongly around the world. It has made a slew of acquisitions in recent years, including US rice company American Rice and Dutch rice firm Lassie.
