Ad van Geloven, the leading producer of frozen snacks in the Benelux and owner of the Mora brand, and Royaan, owner of premium snack brands Van Dobben and Kwekkeboom, are pleased to announce their agreement to intend joining forces and to merging their activities. The transaction is subject to a request for advice submitted to the respective Works Councils today and approval by the relevant Competition Authorities.
As soon as the agreement will be approved both majority shareholders Lion Capital (Ad van geloven) and NPM Capital (Royaan) will act as shareholders in the new combination.
By combining the two leading brand and product portfolios a new company will be formed with accumulated sales of € 246 million and almost 1100 employees. Its respective brands are well known in the retail and the Food service channel, supplying the catering and restaurant industry as well as petrol stations.
In 2010 Royaan generated sales of € 71 million, primarily in the Netherlands. In its turn, Ad van Geloven generated € 174 million in sales of which € 43 million in Belgium. In the past 10 years, Ad van Geloven and Royaan individually have grown significantly by a series of takeovers of primarily family owned businesses. Both companies intend to further develop their sales of its premium products, improve their combined competitive advantages and expand inside and outside the Dutch and Belgium domestic markets.
Peter Doodeman (55), CEO of Ad van Geloven, is proposed to become head of the new combination. Royaan CEO Bart Bakker (43) will focus on the integration of the various operations, next to his daily responsibilities. As commercial and operational director of Royaan, he was appointed group CEO responsible for all the Royaan companies on 1 September 2011. By that occasion, Royaan CEO Olaf Noorman decided to step down closing a successful period of growth that the Royaan group had gone through. During the past seven years he has grown the company five times through strong autonomous growth of the premium brands Van Dobben and Kwekkeboom and five takeovers.
The brand portfolio of Ad van Geloven consist of Mora, Hebro, Ad van Geloven, van Lieshout and Welten snacks. Royaan owns leading brands such as Van Dobben, Kwekkeboom, Buitenhuis, Willie Dokter, Laan, KB, Bakker and Tjendrawasih.
Ad van Geloven and Royaan expect to close the transaction before 31 December 2011.
