Nine Business Acquisitions in the Industry food And drinksas well as in the organized sector retail food was already closed well before the end of the first quarter of 2023, indicating that these sectors still have momentum in the Greek economy. OUR energy inflationary crisisin fact, this did not appear to have stopped investors’ appetite for takeovers, and in some cases even hastened the course of events, as the resulting reduction in demand made some companies more vulnerable, leading them to an easier “hug” of the larger ones.

It is expected that the elections will not become a brake on the investment appetite that has opened up forever, because, on the one hand, even in the event of an untimely formation of the government, the economy is in a clearly better condition than during the ten-year economic crisis, on the other hand, because the manufacturing industries and food retail , despite any losses from domestic demand, are still characterized by demand inelasticity.

Its constant growth tourismmoreover, it creates new needs, offsetting the losses from any reduction in consumption by Greek households. It is no coincidence that several business deals made in 2023 are largely driven by strong tourist influx, such as deals related to the bottled water and soft drinks sector, as well as deals related to the expansion of supermarket chains to popular tourist destinations. At the same time, more and more Greek companies are strengthening their extroversion not only through exports, but also through the acquisition of manufacturing and commercial activities outside of Greece.

The energy inflationary crisis does not appear to have dampened investor appetite.

What should we expect in the next period? Acquisitions and mergers in the dairy sector as large companies in the sector seek to become larger food groups, continued takeovers of mostly local supermarket chains by larger ones, while strong movement is also seen in the frozen confectionery category. As a reminder, in 2022, according to PwC’s acquisitions and mergers survey, 22.9% of the value of all these deals were in the food and beverage sector. And the fact that four of the six restructuring deals completed in 2022 were in the food and beverage sector suggests that a second or even a third chance often makes sense for businesses in the sector.

• Green cola. The most high-profile deal this year was the takeover of Green Cola by Greece’s leading bottling company Chitos (Zagori) and the creation of a new holding company in London. In a new company called Green Beverages, the old Chitos shareholders own 89.80% and the old Green Cola shareholders the remaining 10.20%. Through this “marriage”, Green Cola will use the powerful Chitos network to distribute its products in the domestic market, where it started mainly with a supermarket channel, but with a difficult food service channel. entrance.

And Chitos is able to offer its customers in Greece a full package of non-alcoholic drinks, with focus being the key, as it has a much higher profit margin compared to the supermarket channel and at the same time develops its extroversion more. Of course, the goals of the new company include attracting new investors and listing on the stock exchange, most likely in London, in the next stage.

• Cafetex. Cafetex, headed by Yiannos Benopoulos, one of the largest coffee processing companies in Greece and owner of the Coffeeway brand, is also expanding its operations in Geria Albion, as it acquired a majority stake in the English company Beanies the Flavor Company Ltd ten days ago. With this acquisition, Cafetex intends to expand sales of Coffeeway products in the UK and other countries, using the sales network already established by Beanies, which has products in more than 30 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. At the same time, the Greek company is acquiring a production unit in the UK, so that its total production capacity will now be 3,000 tons per year.

Tourism creates new needs and opportunities

If extraversion is a key factor in recent business deals, the associated concept of tourism is another important factor. Thus, several steps taken by supermarkets to acquire local chains in popular travel restrictions are directly related to the sharp increase in tourist flow.

• ANEDIK Cretan. This is the purpose of ANEDIK Kritikos’ recent acquisition of Katerina’s Market in Messinian Mani, through which it acquired four stores in Kalamata, Stoupa, Agios Nikolaos and Kambos.

• Water “Ioli”. Tourism, as well as general mobility in the bottled water category, is behind the decision of Swedish foundation Sterner Stenhus, controlled by expatriate businessman Ilias Georgiadis, to purchase Ioli water, which has been owned by Athenian Brewery since 1991. a company whose main object is … real estate. Sterner Stenhus is a major shareholder in Premia Properties, which owns control of the I. Boutaris & Son”, thanks to which the latter was saved from bankruptcy. However, the same foundation is considering further expansion in this category, exploring the possibility of acquiring other wineries.

• “Ice Cream Dodoni”. Venetis is also partly betting on tourism to restore the production of Pagota Dodoni ice cream, which it is moving towards acquiring after reaching an agreement with creditor banks, the signatures have not yet been signed.

• “Sklavenite”. The need to expand the network in areas with significant residential development is behind the 12th acquisition of Sklavenitis for AS Agora’s Thessalian network. The 11th acquisition of Greece’s largest retailer took place at the end of 2022, when it acquired four of the six GEGOS stores in the Mediterranean region. Two other GEGOS stores came under the control of Masoutis based on an agreement signed on January 20, 2023, opening deals in the sector in question this year.

• panini baking. In addition to the need for companies to grow by acquiring similar or similar businesses, the trend in recent years to expand successful food businesses into new categories beyond those in which they have operated so far is significant. special interest. So, a few days ago, Alfa Athanassios Koukoutaris SA, successful in the category of frozen dough – ready-made pies, acquired 39.49% of the confectionery company Panini SA, by participating in an increase in the authorized capital of the latter. With this investment, Alfa enters the snacks category, as Panini’s core business is the production of fresh sandwiches, croissants and pastries.

• Nestle Greece. The acquisition by Nestle Hellas is a continuation of another category and concerns the acquisition by ISO-PLUS of the nutritional supplement and vitamin business under the Solgar brand.

• “Dodoni” and “DELTA”. DODONI and DELTA have announced entry into new product categories(s) through acquisitions and their relative movement remains to be seen through the end of the year/early 2024.