French fresh-cut group Bonduelle is in exclusive talks with Butler Capital Partners to buy its mushroom business, France Champignon, based in Saumur in the Loire Valley.
France Champignon is a specialist in canned, frozen, fresh, pasteurised and dried mushrooms and, with a turnover in 2008 of some €212m, claims to be the leader in the European market.
The company has embarked on a major industrial modernisation programme over the last few years and has five factories in France and one in Poland.
According to Bonduelle, the two groups have many synergies, including geographic reach and product range, and the current talks are therefore aimed at identifying future areas for integration and development.
Bonduelle and Butler Capital Partners could finalise an agreement in the next few weeks, Bonduelle revealed, although the deal would first need to be authorised by the competition authorities in both France and Germany.
