Lavazza presents a purchase offer for the French company MaxiCoffee-Corriere.it

New coup in France by Lavazza, after shopping for 700 million Carte Noire in 2016. This time MaxiCoffee, active in the coffee sector, is in the crosshairs. The Turin-based group presented a binding offer to take over 100% of the transalpine company, which offers 8,000 products from more than 350 different coffee brands (beans, ground and in capsules) and a wide range of coffee machines espresso, coffee makers, grinders and accessories. The same script was staged between 2015 and 2016 between Lavazza and Carte Noire. MaxiCoffee has an e-commerce platform, a network of 60 commercial outlets throughout France, cole du Caf in Bordeaux, Marseille and Paris, and several Concept Stores with which it caters to both private customers and commercial businesses. The capital now held by the founder Christophe Brancato, by Alessandro Benetton’s 21 Invest through the France division and by other minority shareholders. Lavazza closed the 2021 financial year with a turnover of 2.308 billion euros, up by 11% and profits of 108 million (+44%): in short, there was no shortage of ammunition for any M&A. And with this shopping, he lives up to his business plan. On the other hand, Vice President Giuseppe Lavazza told L’Economia in May: For no reason in the world will we reduce development plans. We aim to strengthen our international presence. So Made in Italy food goes on the attack of those who usually like to target Italy.

Advisors

The transaction is subject to the prior information and consultation procedure of the Economic and Social Committee of the MaxiCoffee group companies and, subsequently, will be submitted to the approval of the Directorate General for Competition, Consumers and Fraud Control (DGCCRF). Following the acquisition, Lavazza will become the majority shareholder while Christophe Brancato will reinvest in the capital of MaxiCoffee with a minority shareholding and will retain his position as chairman. MaxiCoffee was advised by Mayer Brown, while Lavazza was advised by Bnp Paribas, Boston Consulting Group, PriceWaterhouseCooper, De Gaulle Fleurance & Associs.

Sales and distribution network

The acquisition of MaxiCoffee will allow us to consolidate our positioning in France, which has always been a key market for the group, and to strengthen our presence in e-commerce by increasing our presence in the B2C/consumer market. The transaction fits perfectly into our international development strategy and, in particular, allows us to extend our already excellent and widespread sales and distribution partner network with a solid and leading company in its reference market, which it shares with Lavazza the same values: product quality, a long-term vision and strong attention to its employees and stakeholders – said Antonio Baravalle, CEO of Lavazza -. Our strategy is to support the further development of MaxiCoffee, which will maintain its profile as a multi-brand e-commerce platform and remain independent. Our entry will not change its successful business model in any way, on the contrary it will favor its growth thanks to the activation of our international development plans.

The origins

MaxiCoffee was born in 2007 in southwestern France on the initiative of Christophe Brancato, president in office, with the aim of highlighting the versatility of the coffee world on the one hand, and coffee as a vector of human and social development on the other. The group has about 1,500 employees and has become a reference Phygital platform in the world of coffee for some years. Becoming part of the Lavazza group and therefore continuing the development of our business model represents an opportunity and an act of recognition for MaxiCoffee – said Brancato -. The operation will allow us to continue to satisfy and strengthen the already consolidated relationships with our customers, consumers and suppliers. A new long-term and growth phase is opening which will support us in achieving our development objectives, in line with the social and human values ​​which have always characterized the large MaxiCoffee community.