Agras acquires Cerere dry dog, cat food maker in Italy

With this operation Agras consolidates its presence in the dry segment, now overseeing the entire value chain from production to market with its flagship brand Schesir.

Agras Pet Foods, an Italian pet food company, acquired the entire production branch of Cerere S.p.a., a dry pet food producer and packager based in Neive, Piedmont, Italy.

"We recently chose the Cerere plant to produce our latest innovation in dry Schesir Natural Selection…” Simone Mezzanotte, Agras general manager said in a press release.

Agras Pet Foods was founded and based in Genoa, Italy since 1986, operating in the pet food sector through marketing in Italy and abroad of the brands Schesir and Stuzzy in the specialized channel and Adoc brand in grocery stores.

The industrial integration project between Agras Pet Foods and Cerere represents a strategic move in Agras Pet Foods’ ambition to become a key player in the dry segment with its flagship brand Schesir.

Cerere Produzione was established in 2020 following the spinoff of the production branch of Cerere S.p.A., owned by the Schiappapietra family, which has been managing it since 1977 and will continue to market products under its own brand through Cerere S.p.A.

More about Cerere 

The 2019 pro forma turnover of Cerere Produzione Srl was about EUR10 million.

In the coming years Agras Pet Foods, thanks to additional investments aims at doubling the volumes of dry pet food, both under its own and third-party brands.

In this transaction, Agras Pet Foods was assisted by Corus Corporate Finance as financial advisor and Cristoffanini Bravo Bottero and Associati for the legal profiles. Financial due diligence was followed by Deloitte Financial Advisory.

Cerere was assisted by Banca Iccrea as financial advisor and Bird and Bird as legal advisor.

Agras Pet Foods was founded in 1986 in Genoa, Italy, with the mission to bring high quality products to the pet food sector and is today a leader in Italy in the distribution of natural foods for dogs and cats, with a particular focus on the wet single serve foods segment.

The company sells about 25 thousand tons per year of products under the Schesir, Stuzzy, both in Italy and abroad, distributing in over 40 countries to more than 3,000 customers thanks to a workforce of about 60 employees. In the large-scale distribution in Italy it also sells products under Adoc brand.

In 2017, NXMH, a Brussels-based family-owned investment company, acquired 60% of Agras Pet Foods, with the aim of establishing a long-term strategic partnership and accelerating its development. The acquisition saw a renewed commitment of the previous partner Pietro Molteni.

Agras expects to close the 2020 balance sheet with a turnover close to EUR100 million, of which about 30% abroad, in solid growth compared to 2019.

Agras Pets Foods, founded in Genoa, Italy in 1986, with the aim of bringing high quality to pet food in terms of raw materials, formulations and production processes, now owned by the private equity fund NXMH, is in Italy in the segment of natural foods for dogs and cats and is expanding abroad. It has 60 employees and an annual turnover close to EUR100 hundred million. It markets about 25,000 tons of products under the Schesir, Stuzzy and Adoc brands both in Italy and in over 40 countries abroad, with more than 3,000 customers.

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