Biscuits Poult

Toulouse-based company Poult is France's leading producer of private label biscuits and, after acquiring waffle specialist BanketGroep in July 2016, is welcoming a new investor - Crédit Mutuel Equity - to support its growth strategy in France and Europe.

Poult, founded in 1883, is France's second-largest biscuit producer and the leading player in the private label segment with a 35% market share. It has a diverse product range consisting of nine biscuit categories (cookies, breakfast biscuits, chocosticks, tarts etc.). The company, led by its chairman Mehdi Berrada, has in recent years focused on developing innovative products. It employs 800 people and has five factories in France, in the Tarn-et-Garonne, Finistère, Landes and Loiret regions.

Waffle specialist BanketGroep, which joined the Poult group in the summer of 2016, was set up in 1930 in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The company exports most of its production and has become Europe's leading producer of caramel and Belgian-style waffles, with a 50% market share. It employs 400 people across six production sites.

The combined company will have consolidated revenue of €300 million, of which exports will account for 45%.

Crédit Mutuel Equity (formerly CM-CIC Investissement) is investing €25 million, and is joining a pool of investors led by Qualium Investissement, the majority shareholder alongside management, to support the creation of Europe's leading private label biscuit producer. The new group is considering acquisitions in other European countries, but also in promising new healthy biscuits segment.

"We were attracted by the quality of the management team and the excellent fit between the two companies," explained Stéphane Vermot-Desroches and Antoine Arlet, Crédit Mutuel Equity. "They complement each other very well in geographical locations, because they address different countries, and in product terms, because they operate in distinct categories in which each of them has a dominant position. There is major scope for generating synergies, in terms of both commercial strategy and sharing expertise, which means that it can enter new segments of the European market, such as gluten-free and organic products," they added.

"We are delighted to be welcoming Crédit Mutuel Equity as an investor. The group is already a leading player in the European private label biscuit market, and Crédit Mutuel Equity's support will help with its sector consolidation strategy," said Guillaume Peroz, Director, Qualium Investissement.

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