Cirio sells bakery unit
reached an agreement to sell its industrial bakery unit to a
family-owned group, a further step on the road to recovery.
Panificio Moderno, which makes bread and pizzas, is to be acquired by the holding company of the Tognetti family for around €13 million, with the deal likely to be completed next month, according to Mario Resca, one of three government-appointed administrators of the company. Moderno, which is 100 per cent owned by Cirio, has a turnover of around €15 million, and had been performing well prior to the company's collapse in November 2002. It sales for 2002 increased by 18 per cent compared to the previous year, with 20 per cent growth from bread and 13 per cent from pizza. t The bread and pastry unit accounts for 65 per cent of total turnover at the company, with sales focused entirely on the domestic market. The remaining 35 of sales come from the pizza unit, with 56 per cent of the business focused on Italy and 44 per cent from exports to the UK, France and Switzerland. The Tognetti family already operates its own baked goods business in Italy and indeed was the former owner of Moderno before it became part of the larger group in 1997. This historic link with the company was perhaps what helped the smaller group fight off competition from other major industrial bakers such as Panificio Novelli based in Rome and Milan-based Panem, one of the biggest baked goods groups in Italy.
