Clarys & Willich acquired by Turpaz Industries

Turpaz Industries agreed on 27 March 2024 to acquire Cewecon, the German holding company controlling the Clarys & Willich group, through its Belgian subsidiary Food Ingredients Technologies. Consideration amounted to $20–50M, an EV/EBITDA multiple of 5x–12x, funded from the group’s own resources and bank borrowing, with completion expected in early April. The sellers, Kurt Clarys and Volker Willich, reinvested 20.6 million dollars of the proceeds into FIT for 24.5% of its capital, leaving Turpaz with 45.3% and David Landau, FIT’s chief executive, with 30.2%. Turpaz retained the majority of the board and continued to consolidate the subsidiary, and cross options were put in place over the minority holdings. Both sellers remained at the head of Clarys & Willich. Trading since 1970, the group produces savoury flavourings, functional ingredients and specialty raw materials for meat processors and bakeries. Its compounds season and preserve prepared meats and sausages, and improve the texture and keeping qualities of baked goods. Two plants with development laboratories serve those markets, one in Belgium covering 19,000 square metres of which 12,500 are built, completed in 2022 at a cost of 12 million euros, and one in Germany of 12,000 square metres with 2,000 built. The group employs 70 people, sells mainly across Benelux, and recorded revenue of $35.1m and adjusted EBITDA of $6.4m for 2023.