May 24, 2011

Aoste bids for Madrange

French cold meats firm Aoste has made a bid to acquire ham and charcuterie specialist Madrange.

Aoste wants to merge the cooked ham activities of its subsidiary Jean Caby with Madrange into a separate unit, with the Madrangeas family holding a minority stake.  

The new unit would specialise in own-label ham, a segment in which Jean Caby and Madrange each hold a 20% share of the French market. The merged operation's scope, with annual turnover of EUR470 million (US$659 million), could expand to include own-branded cocktail sausages and pâtés.

In 2009, Madrange entered into takeover talks with French food holding company Financière Turenne Lafayette, which owns the Paul Predault ham brand but the sell-off plans were dropped.