Panrico®, leader in the bakery and sandwich loaf market in Spain and Portugal, has bought Kraft Foods, the biscuit business of Artiach®. The transaction covers the emblematic brands of Artiach that include Chiquilín®, Filipinos®, Artinata®, Artichoco®, Articoco®, Artiavellana®, Artilimón®, Artiturrón®, Digesta®, Princesa®, Mini Princesa®, Mila®, Morena®, Selección®, Tentaciones®, as well as Marbú Dorada® and Dinosaurus®.

In 2007, turnover for these brands, several of which feature among the 20 most important on the Spanish biscuit market, amounted to 70 million euros and their market share stood at 12%, which places Panrico in second position on this market. These are prestigious, recognised brands in Spain with a long tradition which, in Artiach’s® case, stretches back over 100 years.

In the same operation, the company has acquired the production plant in Orozko (Vizcaya), which has a workforce of 240. The Orozko factory has a high level of technology, quality certification, and a significant capacity for expansion. Panrico® intends to increase the production capacity of the plant on the basis of the acquired brands. Panrico® will also incorporate its whole commercial (marketing and sales) division, which is staffed by 33 professionals.

Important synergies and complementarity
According to Joan Cornudella, CEO of Panrico, “with this operation we have taken a definitive step towards meeting our strategic objective of growth through acquisitions. We have also complemented our range of products and are enhancing our products with the addition of some of the most emblematic brands in the biscuit business in Spain and Portugal”.

Panrico’s® CEO added: “the biscuit business we have acquired has great potential for development and competes on an attractive market for its growth. There are also a host of synergies with our current business – common consumers and consumption opportunities, the same geographical markets, and very powerful brands with a capacity for growth through marketing and innovation. It is also clear that there exists an opportunity to develop the Artiach® business using our distribution capacity in the impulse channel and a host of synergies in operational terrain.”.


Panrico’s advisors on this operation have been: JP Morgan throughout the process, Ernst & Young on financial and tax due diligence, Cuatrecasas on company and labour matters, Ashurst on tax and legal aspects of financing; ING as a banking agent for finance, and Richard Ellis as a real estate valuation advisor.

About Panrico®
Panrico® is a leading Spanish food company on the bakery and sandwich loaf market in Spain and Portugal. Its leadership is based on two very solid differential items: its brands and its capacity to innovate them, and its distribution capacity. Panrico® has 11 factories in Spain and Portugal and a sound commercial network in which over 3,800 professionals work. The company was acquired in 2005 by Apax Partners, in a project based on professionalisation, growth and profit. In 2007, Panrico’s turnover amounted to 590.2 million euros, an increase of 4.7% over and above the previous year.


About Artiach®
For generations the Artiach brand, the history of which dates back over 100 years, has been part of the diet of the Spanish. In 2007, Artiach’s turnover amounted to 70 million euros while its market share was 12%. Most brands by the emblematic Artiach® such as Chiquilín,® Marbú Dorada®, Artinata®, Filipinos®, and Dinosaurus® are made at the Orozko plant in Vizcaya.