Canada Bread sells Olivieri Foods to Spain’s Ebro

Canada Bread, a manufacturer and distributor of fresh bakery products, has completed the sale of its fresh pasta and sauce business Olivieri Foods to Spanish firm Ebro Foods.

Olivieri Foods manufactures flat and filled fresh pasta products and sauces at its facilities in Hamilton, Ontario and Delta, British Columbia.

The company employs 375 people, and it recorded gross revenues of C$105.5m in 2012.

The sale was completed following the receipt of approval from the Competition Bureau.

In October, Canada Bread inked a definitive agreement with Ebro to divest its Olivieri Foods in a $120m deal.

Canada Bread president and CEO Richard Lan commented at the time that the sale represented an excellent opportunity to optimise the value of the company’s fresh pasta business, while realising its potential under a company dedicated to expanding in the global pasta industry.

"With the leading Canadian brand in fresh pasta, a strong consumer and customer base and highly skilled employees, this acquisition provides Ebro Foods with an excellent growth platform," Lan added.

Ebro Foods chairman Antonio Hernández Callejas said that the purchase would enable the company to enter the fresh pasta and sauces segment in Canada through the leading brand, thus consolidating its leadership in all the categories in which it operates in the country.

"The incorporation of Olivieri into Ebro Foods will also produce numerous additional synergies with our European fresh pasta business headed by Lustucru, in commercial, industrial, marketing and advertising aspects," Callejas added.

Canada Bread, 90% owned by Maple Leaf Foods, manufactures and markets value-added flour based products, including bread, rolls, bagels and sweet goods, frozen partially baked or par-baked breads and bagels.

Headquartered in Spain, Ebro Foods is a food group operating in the rice, pasta and sauces segments.

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Image: Olivieri Foods manufactures flat and filled fresh pasta products and sauces. Photo courtesy of Suat Eman at freedigitalphotos.net.