Lion Capital: to sell up to five percent Aryzta stake

Zurich / CH. (div) Lion Capital LLP is selling a stake of up to five percent in bakery group Aryzta AG through Credit Suisse Group AG.

«The shares offered represent Lion Capital´s entire holding in Aryzta», Credit Suisse said in a statement. Lion Capital declined to comment. Its investment in Aryzta is the result of the firm´s initial investment in Hiestand Holding AG. In February 2008, Lion Capital acquired a 32 percent stake in publicly-listed Hiestand, a leading European value added bakery and convenience food company with strong market positions in Switzerland and Germany. In June 2008, Lion sold its stake in Hiestand to the Irish IAWS Group PLC, and subsequently, the two companies were merged to create Aryzta AG, a new Swiss-based holding company.

Shares in Aryzta were eight percent weaker in morning trade in Zurich and dropped 3,6 percent in Dublin, the daily press reports. «The trade is going to happen over there (in Switzerland) so we just have a reflection of that in Dublin», one Dublin-based trader said to Reuters. «Lion Capital´s exit is no surprise», says a Zurich-based trader. «But the significant volume of four million shares has to be absorbed, which explains the hefty share price drop».