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Frozen Foods International News
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| France's Picard up for Grabs |
Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC, which in December raised a $5
billion fund for leveraged buyouts, is among at least five
private equity firms considering a bid for BC Partners Ltd.'s
French frozen-food retailer, Picard Surgeles, according to inside
sources, Bloomberg News has reported.
CVC Capital Partners Ltd., Lion Capital LLP and Cinven Ltd., all
based in London, as well as Paris-based Eurazeo, may also submit
bids, the unnamed sources said. BC Partners, Picard's owner, is
seeking to get lenders to agree on a pre-packaged debt-financing
plan before setting a date for bids, they added.
BC Partners, based in London, is seeking to return money to
investors as it aims to start raising a new 6 billion-euro ($7.4
billion) buyout fund this year. Private equity firms are buying
and selling assets again after a two-year freeze because of the
credit crisis. They have led $57 billion in takeovers this year,
or 77 percent more than a year earlier, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg. The Picard sale may fetch as much as 1.5
billion euros, people said previously.
BC Partners acquired Picard from Candover Partners Ltd. six years
ago in a deal valuing the company at 1.3 billion euros. Candover
acquired it from French retailer Carrefour SA in 2001. Picard,
based in Fontainebleau, has 813 shops in France and makes frozen
food under its own brand. CD&R sold Brakes, a food supplier to
caterers in the UK and France, in 2007 after boosting the
company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization by 70%, according to the firms website
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| 01-Jul-10 |
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