SI Foods Ltd, the majority shareholder of Dodoni SA (“Dodoni”) and CVC Capital Partners VII (“CVC Fund VII”) have agreed to the joint ownership of SI Foods Holding Ltd (“SIF”) whereby CVC Fund VII will hold a majority interest.
The current SI Foods owners will remain active shareholders and will continue to manage Dodoni, its subsidiaries and its operations. The partnership will leverage SIF, and Dodoni, as a platform to grow the presence in particular in the specialty cheese and related sectors through investments and possibly acquisitions in Greece and abroad.
In 2012, Dodoni, the leading Greek dairy and best-selling Greek Feta PDO brand, was privatised by the Greek State and sold to SI Foods Ltd, a group of private investors, including the partners of Lime Capital Partners Ltd. Since its privatisation, the subsequent owners have significantly restructured Dodoni investing in its production facilities, organisation and sales and marketing. As a result, Dodoni’s revenues have almost doubled with about 50% being generated through exports. Since 2012, Dodoni has provided strong support for the primary economy, increasing the number of permanent employees from 270 to over 600 in Greece and having paid more than €0.5 billion to its farmers.
CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) is a leading private equity and investment advisory firm with a network of 23 offices throughout Europe, Asia and the US. Funds managed or advised by CVC (“CVC Funds”) are invested in over 90 companies worldwide, employing more than 450,000 people.
CVC Funds are also one of the most active investors in Greece with a dedicated team in Athens which has invested or committed more than €1 billion of equity since 2017, including in Hellenic Healthcare Group, e-Travel, Skroutz, D-Marin and Vivartia, as well as recently agreeing the acquisition of Ethniki Insurance.
Tom Seepers, CEO of Dodoni stated: “We are proud to enter into this exciting partnership with CVC enabling us to take the next step in our long-term strategy to transform Dodoni. The current shareholders and management of Dodoni remain committed to their long-term strategy of growing the company and providing stability and security to its suppliers and employees. With CVC we have secured a strong partner with a focus on sustainable value creation, who shares our focus on ESG and can enable us to accelerate the future development of Dodoni.”
SI Foods is being advised by KBVL, Ionian Capital and Eveda Capital.
