ds announced earlier today that it had agreed to buy a majority 52% stake in Italian pasta company Pastificio Lucio Garofalo for €62.5 million.The unlisted Italian company, founded in 1789, is the owner of high-end dried pasta brands Garofalo, Santa Lucia and Russo de Cicciano. Ebro Foods intends to help international expansion for the brands, the Spanish company said in a statement.
Ebro Foods is active in the rice, pasta, and condiment sectors, and quoted on the Madrid stock exchange. Garofalo called Ebro Foods an industrial partner with a solid background with which to grow on the basis of a common vision that will "preserve the identity of the company and the product, which owe their distinctive and differentiating traits to the leadership, the workers, as well as the production site".
Development, the Campanian group said, will continue to be managed by headquarters in Gragnano.
Garofalo Chief Executive Massimo Menna said the deal enables the Italian company to "consolidate the success of our pasta in the world".
Menna also warned that the takeover "represents value for the Italian system and should not be read as a piece of Italy that is going away".
"Our company is healthy and strong, and this has put us in an optimal position to seize the best opportunities for growth," Menna said.
