Antwerp/Erpe-Mere, 28 March 2014 – The Dutch-Belgian private equity company Waterland Private Equity Investments (Waterland) is going to provide growth capital to the Unimar group, a leading player in the development and distribution of deep-frozen products for the bakery sector.
The Unimar group was founded in 1989 and has grown over recent years to become a key supplier of bakery products in the Benelux and a number of other European countries, with a turnover of € 73 million. The company specialises in bake-off products (deep-frozen products in particular), with distribution in both the retail and wholesale sectors and in food services (commercial and social catering).
According to its two top men, Robert Huygh and Patrick Dermaut, “Over the last five years, the market for bake-off bakery products has grown substantially, thanks to increasing demand for diversity in the range of bakery products on offer. Working with bake-off products gives our customers an efficient way of offering a broad range of high-quality products. On top of that, it reduces waste. Loaves can be baked at the point of sale several times a day as necessary, so there’s no accumulation of unwanted stock.”
In order to continue its growth strategy in the future, Unimar recently decided to strengthen its equity structure. To that end, the company has now brought in Waterland as a financial partner. Waterland will provide additional cash resources to Unimar and will support the management where necessary in the further growth of their company. “The long-term partnership with Waterland is giving us the necessary resources to achieve our ambitious goals to grow,” says the managing director Dirk De Pandelaere.
“For Waterland, the investment in Unimar fits in with our strategy of investing in growing, high-quality companies who are aiming to acquire leading positions in their sectors,” says Frank Vlayen, the manager for Waterland Private Equity Investments in Belgium.
The family shareholders were assisted by Van Reybrouck Accountants.
Waterland was assisted by PWC and Argo Law.
About Unimar
Unimar (www.diversifoods.com) was founded in 1989 and grew to become an important supplier of bakery products in the Benelux. The company’s registered offices are in Erpe-Mere. It employs 50 staff.
About Waterland Private Equity Investments
Waterland Private Equity Investments (Waterland) (www.waterland.be) is an independen Dutch-Belgian private equity company, active in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Poland, with more than € 2.5 billion under management. Waterland focuses on industries that are undergoing change as a consequence of one or more of the following trends: outsourcing & efficiency, ageing population, leisure & luxury and sustainability.
Waterland is a member of the Belgian Venturing Association (BVA), the Dutch Venture Capital Association (NVP and the European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EVCA). Waterland has offices in Antwerp, Bussum, Munich, Düsseldorf and Warsaw
Op zoek naar de Nederlandse website?