Barilla Group: wants to sell German Kamps AG

Düsseldorf / DE. (ftd / beu) Italy´s Barilla Group, the world´s biggest pasta maker, is preparing to sell the German Kamps AG – Europe´s biggest bakery chain. According to FTD Barilla has selected a Frankfurt investment bank to handle the transaction, which is still in its early stages and could take several months. Kamps AG will be sold as a package comprising the stores (Kamps Bakeries GmbH) as well as the industrial production of bread (Kamps Brot- und Backwaren GmbH), which accounts for approximately 80 percent of revenue. The stores won´t fetch more than 100 million Euro – FTD said, citing people familiar with the matter. In 2002 Barilla Holding SPA paid 1,8 billion Euro to acquire the bakery chain, which employs 8.000 staff in industrial bakeries and approximately 1.000 bakery shops across Germany. The Parma-based pasta maker Barilla is targeting institutional investors for the sale as there are no domestic buyers in the industry with the necessary funds or management expertise to take on the German bakery chain. Barilla was not available for a comment. The FTD quoted a company spokesman as saying he did not want to discuss speculation about a sale. Düsseldorf-based Kamps AG was founded by Heiner Kamps 1997. The initial public offering (IPO) caused a furore in 1998.