Savena and Sfinc to create new ingredients group

European producers of food ingredient mixes Savena and Sfinc have announced the merger of the two companies to become a leading food ingredient mixes provider in Europe.

The newly created company, Savena Sfinc, is expected to generate significant revenues and purchasing synergies, widen product offering and further combine the existing technologies and expertise of the respective teams.

Savena Sfinc’s management team will include Savena and Sfinc founders Eric Terré and Chris De Wolf, as well as executives from both companies.

Savena CEO Eric Terré said the merger opens up new markets in Europe for the combined group, in particular the Benelux area, and reinforces its positioning and products.

"The nature of our respective client bases, our complementary geographical reach, and the potential to rationalise our industrial footprint and to produce a wide range of synergies means both companies are an ideal fit geographically and strategically," Terré said.

The combination of the two companies comes four months after IK Investment Partners purchased Savena and one month after its acquisition of Swedish flavours and functional ingredients company Formidabel.

Savena, based in Bréal-sous-Monfort, France, offers a wide portfolio of products that combine texture and taste to food industrialists, catering firms and mass distribution companies in France and Europe, and its turnover is expected to be €102m in 2011.

Belgium-based Sfinc, which was created following the merger of Belgian businesses Rejo and Pellicula in 2004, offers spices, sauces, marinades and functional food mixes for agro-food businesses, and is expected to generate a turnover exceeding €75m in 2011.

During the merger, Savena is supported by its majority shareholder, the northern continental private equity firm IK Investment Partners, and Sfinc by its financial investor AXA Private Equity.