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Cérélia Group

Leading European manufacturer of ready-to-use dough

In 2012, the merger of EuroDough and L’Alsacienne de Pâtes Ménagères (“APM”) created Cérélia Group, bringing together nearly 40 years of experience. At the time of exiting, Cérélia was a leading European manufacturer of ready-to-use dough, generating sales of EUR 212 million in 2014.

Cérélia Group had a wide product range including rolled pie dough, pizza dough, exotic dough, pastries, cake batter and organic dough, selling its products both through private labels and its own brands Croustipate and Pop! Bakery. In total, Cérélia had four production plants and 650 employees, with headquarters in Liévin, France.

Cérélia Group was acquired by the IK VII Fund in July 2015 from Sagard, the majority shareholder since 2012, Capzanine, Cerea Capital and BNP Développement. The Group was later sold to Ardian in March 2020.

Our Value Creation Strategy

During our ownership, we worked alongside the management team to:

  • Expand into adjacent segments through various innovation projects;
  • Introduce a buy-and-build strategy to accelerate European expansion and product range diversification; and
  • Achieve operational improvement and capex optimisation.