Milling & Baking News - June 29, 2010 - 14

Business 

Grupo Bimbo to buy Mexican
confectionery group
MEXICO CITY - Grupo Bimbo S.A.B.
de C.V. has reached agreement to acquire Mexican confectionery group
Dulces Vero. Financial terms of the
transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1952, Dulces Vero
makes a range of sweets and confections, including lollipops, gummies,
caramels and marshmallows. The
company, which will be folded into
Grupo Bimbo's snack division, had

2009 sales of approximately 1.1 billion pesos ($87 million).
"The acquisition of
these assets strengthens
Grupo Bimbo's position
in the Mexican confectionery market through
its Barcel subsidiary, and
furthers the company's
strategy of reaching across
all
socio-demographic

Fitch gives Bimbo BBB default rating;
sees leadership in global baking
MONTERREY, MEXICO - Grupo
Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V. has been given a
foreign-currency issuer default rating
of BBB by Fitch Ratings. Fitch also gave
Bimbo a BBB local currency issuer default rating of BBB.
Fitch's national scale long-term rating
for Bimbo is AA+.
"The ratings are based on the company's leadership position in the global
bakery business, strong brand recognition and positioning in the markets
where it operates and its distribution
network, which allows it to reach over 1

million points of sale through more than
39,000 sales routes," Fitch said. "The
ratings also incorporate its improved
business profile and geographic diversification, as revenues and EBITDA from
the U.S. market now represent 42% and
36%, respectively."
Fitch said Bimbo performed well during the economic recession, even though
sales growth was modest.
"The integration process of the
Weston Foods operations has been
smooth and efficient, and expected savings from synergies are now higher than

Newly Weds buys United Kingdom
food ingredients manufacturer
CHICAGO - Newly Weds Foods, Inc.
has acquired United Kingdom-based
food ingredients manufacturer and
coating specialist Witwood Food
Products Ltd. Financial terms of the
transaction were not disclosed. Newly
Weds Foods is a provider of food coatings, seasonings and functional ingredients for the food processing and
food service industries.
Founded in 1982, Witwood is headquartered in Banbury, U.K., and has
manufacturing sites in Australia and
Thailand servicing a customer base
of more than 250 food processors and
manufacturers. Witwood is the U.K.'s
largest independent ingredients business, producing food coatings, and its
customer base comprises the frozen
and chilled value-added food markets
worldwide.
"Witwood Food Products is a highly
regarded and well respected company
in our industry," said Charles T. Angell,
president of Newly Weds Foods. "It has
14 / June 29, 2010 Milling & Baking News

a reputation for delivering innovative
food coating technologies, and we see
the potential in taking that technology
to our customers around the world.
"In turn, Witwood's customers will
be able to benefit from our complementary capabilities in food coatings as well
as seasoning systems and functional
ingredients. The product range, corporate values, entrepreneurial spirit and
customer-focused culture of our two
companies are a perfect match.
"We see the combined business
strengthening Newly Weds' position
in the global marketplace and creating
many growth opportunities. We welcome Witwood Food Products to the
Newly Weds Foods family."
Newly Weds Foods operates 15
plants in North America and 9 international production facilities, including
facilities in China, Thailand, Australia,
the United Kingdom, Holland and the
Philippines plus a network of international partners. MBN

segments," Grupo Bimbo said. "Along
with sales and cost synergies, Vero's
strength in the wholesale channel,
combined with Barcel's extensive retail distribution network, will provide
a strong platform for
continued growth.
"Furthermore, Vero's
products
complement
Barcel's portfolio in the
U.S. Hispanic market
and provide an opportunity to further expand
the company's presence
in that country." MBN
initially projected," the agency added.
Bimbo has been able to pre-pay $535
million of debt since completing the
Weston acquisition.
"Leverage at the end of the first
quarter of 2010, as measured by total
debt to last twelve-month EBITDA
was 2.1x, compared to pro-forma leverage of close to 3.0x at the time of
the transaction," Fitch said. "Interest
coverage ratio for the same period
was 5.7x, consistent with the category. Bimbo's credit protection measures should continue to strengthen
in the short-to-medium term given
management's intentions to continue
to use excess cash flows toward debt
reduction." MBN

Pittman & Davis acquires
Eilenberger Bakery
HARLINGEN, TEXAS - Pittman
& Davis, a division of Southern
Fulfillment Services, has completed the acquisition of Eilenberger
Bakery, Palestine, Texas. Founded
in 1898, Eilenberger is known for
its Texas Pecan Cake and other
baked gourmet gifts for all occasions, including fruitcake, fruit
cake assortments, gourmet brownies, butter rum cake, orange cake
and pecan pie.
"Eilenberger Bakery is as much
a daily part of Texas life as Friday
night football," said Sarah Pryor,
general manager of Eilenberger
Bakery. "We look forward to sharing the wonderful traditions and
recipes of this destination bakery
far beyond the Texas borders."
Southern Fulfillment Services is a
privately-owned Florida-based fulfillment and logistics company. The
company currently owns multiple
catalog brands related to citrus and
gourmet food categories. MBN

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - June 29, 2010

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