Over 20 food and drink sector M&A deals in 2023
More than 20 business deals were closed in 2023 in the food and beverage sector in Greece, a sector that was once again dominated by strong mobility. Moreover, a number agreements were launched in 2023 that are expected to be closed in 2024.
Last year, the sector of bottled water and non-alcoholic beverages in general did remarkably well, with the protagonists being Vivartia, but also Spyros Theodoropoulos, who are expected to star in business deals in the food and beverage sector in 2024 as well. Dimitris Daskalopoulos is also expected to play a central role, as the once powerful player of the Greek food industry has maintained connections with the industry even after selling his stake in Vivartia.
At the same time, anxiety is lingering over what will happen to Avramar, the country’s biggest fish farming venture, with creditor banks seeking to sell it if its current owners refuse to inject new capital.
Four non-alcoholic beverage companies changed hands in 2023. Up first was Ioli water, a brand owned by Athens Brewery since 1991 and passed to the Sterner Stenhus fund, of the Georgiadis brothers, expatriates from Sweden.
The merger of Hitos ABEE with Green Cola aims to create a large company in the sector of bottled water and soft drinks through the absorption of the latter by the former. The move is obviously not aimed only at the Greek market.
A few weeks before the announcement of the above merger, the acquisition of the EPSA soft drink industry by the SMERC fund of Nikos Karamouzis was announced.
Karamouzis also stars in the fourth business agreement in the non-alcoholic beverages sector: Together with the other former banker Apostolos Tamvakakis of EOS Capital Partners and Spyros Theodoropoulos they acquired a majority stake in the company S. Mendekidis SA, known by the Seli and Dios water brands.
From the divestment of the previous years, Vivartia made a series of moves last year aimed at building itself back into a major food group. It acquired 100% of the Dodoni dairy industry, while its subsidiaries Delta and Barba Stathis bought the companies Cold Sin (ice cream) and Halvatzis Makedoniki respectively, while Delta also acquired 70% of the cheese factory Kourellas.
