Gilde acquires leading Dutch industrial bakeries Pré Pain & Smithuis

Gilde Equity Management Benelux (“Gilde”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Pré Pain & Smithuisfrom its former shareholder Neon Private Equity (ABN AMRO, former Fortis Private Equity).

Smithuis was founded in 1889 by the Smithuis family as a traditional artisanal bakery and over the last century grew into a fully automated industrial bakery. In 1992 Pré Pain was launched, which pioneered the Dutch bake-off market and turned into the leading player in the Netherlands. Pré Pain is a niche player in the internationally growing segment of small and crusty bake-off bread. The companies produce ca. 100,000 tons of bread annually with production capabilities that are considered best-in-class in terms of quality, efficiency and flexibility. Pré Pain & Smithuis retain long term customer relationships with the main retailers and wholesalers in the Netherlands and several leading customers abroad.

In recent years the company has not been able to serve the strong demand for its products. Challenges in production capacity and efficiency make that Pré Pain needs to increase its production base. In order to further build the unique position of the company Gilde and management aim to invest in the expansion of the business. With Gilde as a new shareholder the company found the right strategic partner to look forward to the next stage of (international) growth.

About Gilde Equity Management Benelux

Gilde Equity Management Benelux is a private equity investor, focused on realizing midmarket management buy-outs in the Benelux region, with EUR 500 million of assets under management. Examples of (previous) investments include Salad Signature, the leading Benelux salad producer and marketer, owning strong brand names like Delio, Johma and Hamal (divested in 2012); HG International, a branded supplier of specialist cleaning products; Actief Interim, one of the largest independent staffing companies in Belgium; Sovitec, European market leader in glass beads for road marking, and BlueCielo, developer and marketer of Asset Information Management (software) solutions.