CAPZA is buying Groupe Saint Aubin, in partnership with its chairman/CEO Thierry Lafeuille, in order to speed up its growth trajectory. Together with Thierry Lafeuille, CAPZA Transition is investing in the group’s capital and mezzanine debt. The other shareholders are selling all their shares.

Groupe Saint Aubin has been run by Thierry Lafeuille (formerly a Director at Coup de Pâtes) since 2015, when it was taken over by MBI. The group manufactures a wide range of desserts, savoury snacks and ready-made products which it sells to big supermarket chains, distributors for the out-of-home catering industry and bakery chains.

It has around 116 employees and is expected to generate €25 million of revenue in 2019.

Thanks to its 4 production facilities in the Saône-et-Loire region and R&D laboratory, it is able to offer a wide range of customised and distinctive products alongside a standard ready-to-order range. It is especially renowned for its innovative capabilities, which will be further developed following this transaction.

With its newly streamlined capital ownership structure, Groupe Saint Aubin will be able to launch a large-scale investment programme in production facilities, R&D and additional bolt-on acquisitions.

Thierry Lafeuille’s in-depth experience will be combined with CAPZA’s extensive knowledge of the food industry, having already made around ten investments in the sector; one such investment is Cérélia, which CAPZA has supported since 2010 and guided through a series of organic growth measures and acquisitions in France, Europe and overseas.

Emmanuel Bonnaud, Managing Partner of CAPZA Transition, declared that “Groupe Saint Aubin will become a key player in its market by upgrading its production facilities, aligning and reinforcing its governance, and seizing external growth opportunities that will create a high degree of added value for its customers”.

Thierry Lafeuille, Chairman of Groupe Saint Aubin, added “We have worked hard since 2015 to improve our product range, customer relations and internal organisation; CAPZA is now coming on board and giving us the resources we need to consolidate our position through customer-centric innovation. We will achieve this by further optimising the know-how, passion and expertise of our staff to offer the catering industry a range of suitable and customised gastronomical solutions”.