Ebro Foods: sells majority of Riviana branded pastas to Treehouse

Madrid / ES. (epg) Through its US subsidiary Riviana Foods Spain’s Ebro Foods S.A. has arranged to sell certain assets of its dry pasta and noodles business in the U.S. to American Italian Pasta Company, a subsidiary of TreeHouse Foods Inc., Illinois.

The business sold comprises several of the Ebro Group’s dry pasta and noodles brands in the USA and the St. Louis plant, while the Ebro Group will preserve its iconic brand «Ronzoni», present throughout the US market, and its Fresno and Winchester plants, the latter being one of the most modern plants in the country.

For the purpose of this transaction, the assets transferred have been valued at USD 242.5million (value of 100 percent of the business, i.e. before any adjustment for debt and working capital). The transferred business generated revenue of approximately USD 200 million for the twelve-month period ended June 30, 2020. The closing of this transaction would generate an estimated net (after taxes) capital gain in the Consolidated Accounts of the Ebro Group of Euro 27 million.

After this divestment, the Ebro Group will maintain a strong presence in the North American market through its dry and fresh pasta businesses, with the flagship brands «Ronzoni», «Garofalo», and «Bertagni»; frozen rice and pasta, through the company Ebrofrost; and the Group will preserve its leadership of the rice market and that of other high value-added products, under the brands «Mahatma»,«Minute», «Tilda», «Carolina», «Success», «RiceSelect», et cetera.

Completion of this transaction is subject to closing conditions and other formalities typical of transactions of this nature. RBC Capital Markets LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Ebro Foods S.A.