New buying and selling operation in the appetizing market of bakery chains. A few weeks after it was announced that the private equity firm Realza has acquired a majority stake in the Barcelona-based chain Turris, now it is another fund, the British BlueGem Capital Partners, that has acquired two other brands born in the Catalan capital: Santagloria and L'Obrador.
Both add up to more than one hundred points of sale and are part of the multi-brand restaurant group Foodboox, to which they belonged since 2015, when the Nazca Capital fund bought them from the Catalan family business Europastry, in an operation that also included the historic chain El Molí Vell, now defunct.
Nazca has now sold 100% of Foodbox to BluGem, an investment firm that owns the Lateral restaurant chain, which in Barcelona has an establishment on Consell de Cent street. In addition to L'Obrador and Santagloria, the Foodbox chains include Taberna del Volapie, Papizza and Mas Q Menos, the latter also acquired from another Catalan group, Cacheiro, in 2017.
At the close of 2021, FoodBox had a total of 190 restaurants and stores with its five brands in Spain, of which 14 are owned and the rest are franchised establishments. Before the pandemic, the group had an annual turnover of around 80 million euros. In 2021, FoodBox made 32 new openings, with an investment of 7.5 million euros and the creation of more than 300 new jobs.
"BlueGem's objective with the acquisition of FoodBox is to consolidate its position in Spain in the restaurant market and to strongly commit to the growth of FoodBox's different brands, including greater investment in owned units, in addition to continuing with development through franchises," the new owner said in a statement.
BluGem's second investment in Spain
This is the second investment that this British fund has made in Spain after acquiring Lateral in 2017. This restaurant brand now has 16 establishments and has between three and five openings planned this year after the halt that the pandemic caused in its expansion plans. The challenge is to grow from 2023 with eight new owned restaurants annually.
BluGem manages assets of 900 million euros and focuses on investments in the mid-market segment, with a focus on consumer brands with strong growth potential. Its investments range from 25 to 75 million euros per operation. Other portfolio companies include Dr. Vranjes Firenze (home perfumery), Big Fernand (French premium burger chain), QMS Medicosmetics (skin care), and Beautynova (leading hair care chain in Italy).
BluGem will retain FoodBox's current management team, led by its two co-founding partners, Carlos Perez Tenorio and Augusto Méndez de Lugo, former executives of Restalia (100 Montaditos and La Sureña) and Burger King, respectively. However, Enrique Francia will join the top management team from now on, assuming the presidency, a position he also holds at Lateral. Francia is the former CEO of the VIPS chain and currently advises BlueGem.
Nazca Capital is one of the most veteran firms in the Spanish private equity sector and has several portfolio companies in Catalonia, such as Filmin and Phibo. Previously, it had also been a shareholder of Agromillora and other chains such as Lizarran and EurekaKids.
In early 2015, Nazca reached an agreement with the Gallés family, owners of the Europastry group, to acquire their entire network of bakeries, which then had about a hundred stores, mostly under the El Molí Vell brand. This historic brand, founded by baker Pere Gallés, was a pioneer in Spain in the 60s by revolutionizing the traditional concept of bread sales. Divesting this business area to concentrate on its main activity of producing frozen bread and pastries was not easy for Gallés' children, as it was the origin of the group. Before the sale, Europastry had already decided to progressively withdraw the El Molí Vell brand from the market to bet on a new brand, Santagloria, more adapted to new sector trends and allowing it to position itself in a higher segment. In parallel, to target the more premium market, the L'Obrador brand was launched. According to FoodBox, in the last five years, the presence of the Santagloria brand in Spain has tripled, reaching a hundred stores.
Venture capital, specifically the Corpfin fund, also controls another Barcelona chain in the sector: El Fornet, which originated in 1927.