Fremman Capital (Fremman) has acquired a majority stake in The Natural Fruit Company (TNFC)and GPF Capital alongside existing shareholders.
The company is a European specialist in the processing, distribution and commercialisation of citrus fruits including lemons, oranges, tangerines, pomegranates, and persimmons. This acquisition has a strong alignment with Fremman’s approach to ESG, where TNFC is a leader in organic varieties, limited processing and practices a zero-waste approach.
The Group, headquartered in Spain, is the resulting combination of three family businesses, which has helped to consolidate the company’s position as a leading international citrus player, being No1 lemon and NO2 orange distributor in Europe. TNFC controls c900 hectares of plantations located across Spain, mainly oriented towards organic production, and has a total processing capacity of c400k tonnes of fruit per annum. It operates eight processing facilities strategically placed in Spain and has one logistics facility located in Perpignan (France).
The citrus market is expected to have long-term growth, driven by positive consumer trends (including an increase of Vitamin C consumption and general health awareness) as well as the increasing availability of citrus all year long, thanks to new varieties covering a broader campaign. Market leaders, like TNFC, are best placed to capture a larger share of this growth, as well as capitalise on the consolidation opportunities in this highly fragmented market. In this front, TNFC has a clear growth path envisaged to lead the consolidation trend in the industry through an active M&A strategy, leveraging its strong positioning and market reputation.
Fernando Castelló Naya and Francisco Marin – Co-CEOs at TNFC, jointly say: “We are thrilled with the opportunity ahead. As strong believers in the business and compelling future, we are happy to continue backing The Natural Fruit Company in the long-term, and to welcome Fremman Capital into this new chapter together.”
Ricardo de Serdio – Founding Partner and CEO at Fremman, says: “We are very pleased with the agreement reached with selling shareholders, and that GPF Capital will continue to be highly involved. GPF has done an excellent job as shareholder integrating three companies in less than two years, including backing a superb management team where all the main managers are very relevant shareholders, as well as growing the business significantly above market. We are confident that Fremman’s team’s expertise in business services and consumer goods, consolidation processes and ESG focus will support the management team to continue creating value in the future, through organic and inorganic growth.”
The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in July 2021. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
