SOLUM PARTNERS takes majority stake in GREENYARD

This transaction structures a full-function joint venture combining the industrial assets and commercial operations of Gelagri Bretagne and Greenyard Frozen France, creating a consolidated entity under the majority ownership and operational control of the Greenyard group. The combination establishes a leading player in the French frozen vegetable sector with an aggregate pro-forma revenue exceeding 260 million euros, supported by an integrated manufacturing cluster of four production sites in Brittany and an combined workforce of 900 employees. The structural rationale for the transaction is driven by the need for industrial scale and volume consolidation to counter escalating capital expenditure requirements in cold-chain automation and to increase bargaining leverage against consolidating grocery retail purchasing alliances. Prior to this corporate combination, Gelagri Bretagne’s commercial expansion was restricted by its localized cooperative distribution framework, capping its international sales velocity and capacity to absorb industrial overhead during off-peak periods. Immediate post-acquisition priorities will focus on operational integration across the four-site footprint, executing the ongoing co-manufacturing contracts for Eureden’s flagship D'Aucy and Paysan Breton brands to preserve domestic volumes, and routing the newly acquired Breton production capacity directly through Greenyard's global distribution tracks to accelerate international market penetration and maximize plant utilization.

This transaction represents a complete ownership transition of Gigi Gelato to Greenyard’s Long Fresh division, structured to maintain management continuity through the retention of the target’s three original founders to lead ongoing product R&D and commercial positioning. The acquisition fits Greenyard’s strict capital deployment logic, which dictates migrating the product mix toward premium, high-margin frozen snacks that can instantly leverage the group’s existing infrastructure, procurement scale, and pan-European retail distribution tracks. Under its founders, Gigi Gelato proved its concept across multiple test markets but reached an operational bottleneck due to scaling and distribution constraints inherent to early-stage consumer brands. Post-acquisition priorities will center on embedding the target’s product line into Greenyard’s high-volume ICR contracts to drive immediate shelf-space expansion, optimizing unit economics through collective raw material procurement, and scaling manufacturing volumes to improve the capacity utilization of the group's frozen logistics network.