According to some market rumors, the Campari group intends to sell the soft drinks company branch – which includes a series of well-known brands such as Lemonsoda, Oransoda and Crodo – without a commercial network. Potential buyers could therefore be large foreign multinationals or Italian industrial groups.
Despite the rumors of the possible transaction, the stock on Piazza Affari did not undergo any particular changes, traveling around +0,1% over the entire morning.
The branch involved in the operation has a value close to 100 million euro. According to Dealreporter, the Dutch investment bank Rabobank, highly specialized in the beverage and food sector, is working to look for potential buyers.
The decision follows the group's strategy which envisages the growth and development of core businesses - such as Aperol, Campari, Averna and Braulio - with the consequent progressive rationalization of non-core businesses. Therefore, the acquisition of Grand Marnier in France is part of the strategic plan, which led to a positive effect of 58,9 million on sales and 14 million on adjusted Ebitda in the first half.
In recent months, the Group led by Bob Kunze-Concewitz had sold non-core businesses such as Carolans and Irish Mist and also some real estate assets, raising a total of 228 million euros from the transactions, which contributed to the reduction of debt for 2017.
In fact, the Campari group closed the first half on a positive note, with all indicators showing growth. Sales grew by 13,5% to 844,7 million euros. Net income increased by 21,1%, reaching 93,5 million euros.
