Not many firms can boast about reaching a billion-dollar valuation completely constructed on bread, donuts and pastries—however Spain’s Europastry definitely can.
The corporate, which provides its baked items to Starbucks, Pret A Manger, and Dunkin’ Donuts, is ready to launch its IPO later this week.
The itemizing would worth the corporate at €1.5 billion, marking a key milestone for Europastry, whose roots return over 150 years.
The Gallés household behind the worldwide bread provider can even make a killing from the IPO, incomes not less than €825 million in line with Bloomberg. Relying on how profitable the general public itemizing is, the dynasty that’s managed the enterprise for 3 generations might grow to be Spain’s first baking billionaire household.
Europastry had a internet turnover of €1.3 billion final yr, pushed by world enlargement, offers and fixed innovation within the baking trade. It acquired a Dutch frozen breads firm earlier this yr to additional cement its place amongst baked items suppliers.
Final month, it reported a year-over-year improve in second-quarter earnings, putting it in an “wonderful place” for the long run, Europastry’s government president Jordi Gallés mentioned on the time.
Europastry’s bread and butter
The Gallés household’s baking stronghold predates its identification as Europastry.
It began off as a small bakery in a bit city simply outdoors Barcelona in 1862. A couple of century later, Pere Gallés launched a bakery chain experimenting with frozen pre-baked bread. The trick of baking bread to about 80% of being totally executed has been attributed to the corporate’s success immediately.
It was solely in 1987 that the enterprise took the Europastry identify and started distributing bread and baked items worldwide.
Angel Garcia—Bloomberg/Getty Pictures
It scored some high-profile offers that propelled it to success, resembling supplying bread to Barcelona’s 1992 Olympics and anchoring Starbucks’ Spain enlargement.
Europastry’s technique in current occasions has concerned pumping investments into analysis and growth to interrupt floor on new recipes and merchandise that resonate with ever-changing meals fads. It added over 400 new merchandise to its portfolio final yr and has established itself as a extra technology-oriented firm than one would anticipate of a standard baking enterprise.
Its enterprise is considerably greater in Europe with gross sales value $1.1 billion, than in different components of the world (gross sales of $325 million), in line with Europastry’s newest annual report.
Delivering on the IPO promise
This gained’t be Europastry’s first try at a public itemizing—it tried the identical in 2007, 2019 and once more, in 2023.
However this time round, as the corporate appears to concurrently record throughout inventory exchanges in Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao and Valencia, issues might be completely different.
Spain has had different blockbuster IPOs in current reminiscence, together with that of cosmetics large Puig earlier this yr.
The proceeds Europastry raises from the IPO will probably be used to scale back the corporate’s debt and proceed its investments by way of mergers and acquisitions, a spokesperson for the corporate advised Fortune.
Jordi Gallés, the grandson of Pere Gallés and the one member of the family with a administration function at Europastry now, is ready to carry on to his controlling stake of 62.2% following the itemizing.
The corporate has had remarkably regular progress during the last decade—barring the pandemic yr. Nevertheless, it would nonetheless must show to buyers the way it will maintain its progress by way of croissants, bread loaves, and pizza dough.
