Bluegem Capital Partners is set to acquire Rispo Group, the Italian frozen foods manufacturer, from Europe Capital Partners, PE Hub reported. Private Equity News put the valuation at roughly 150 million euros, citing a person familiar with the situation, and said Rispo’s management will reinvest alongside Bluegem, retaining a minority stake.
Rispo makes frozen Italian food products, a category riding export demand for authentic Italian lines. Former executives from IRCA and Froneri will be involved in the business under its new ownership, Private Equity News reported, with the incoming chair citing demand for authentic Italian food as stronger than ever.
The deal is a conventional mid market sponsor to sponsor trade in a defensive category: frozen food has the shelf life, private label optionality and export runway that consumer dealmaking still rewards, at a size, about 150 million euros, that clears without the financing drama of larger buyouts.
It pairs with today’s Panzani and Cerealis combination as the European food pattern of the week: sponsors consolidating branded food manufacturing, at the top end by merger and in the mid market by buyout.