MidEuropa Acquires Hortex

MidEuropa, the leading private equity investor in Central and South Eastern Europe, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Hortex Group from funds advised by Argan Capital. Hortex is a leading consumer goods player in Poland, with a strong brand and heritage in the juice and frozen food sectors. The Transaction is subject to customary competition authority clearance, and is expected to close in Q1 2018.

Pawel Padusinski, Partner and Co-Head of MidEuropa’s Warsaw office said:

“Hortex is an iconic brand in Poland, and we believe there is potential to develop the business further through leveraging its strong foundation. We are excited about the prospects of Hortex and the opportunity to increase our exposure to the consumer sector in the growing Polish market. We will support the Company in executing strategic initiatives, including new product development, expansion into adjacent categories and selective add-on acquisitions.”

Robert Knorr, Co-Managing Partner of MidEuropa and head of its retail and consumer practice, commented:

“Our investment in Hortex builds on our strong track record in investing in leading CEE consumer and retail businesses, including Zabka, Moji Brendovi, Allegro and Profi. We see great potential in Hortex as a stand-alone business, as well as its ability to leverage our networks and unique localised knowledge of the regional consumer space to drive further growth and innovation.”

The transaction was executed by Berke Biricik, Marek Rodak, Bartosz Malecki and Elzbieta Drazba.

Advisers to MidEuropa were Vienna Capital Partners (M&A), Clifford Chance (legal counsel), OC&C (commercial), PwC (financial and tax) and Ramboll Environ (environmental & health and safety).