The Belgian chip company Mydibel is reportedly in the shop window. The family business, largely owned by the Mylle family, is looking for a strategic partner for the potato processing company. The desire for an investor seems to stem from the current challenging business climate in French fries production, for example due to higher energy costs and the effects of the drought on the supply and price of the raw material potato.
The Belgian news medium From Tijd reports that the Mylle family has started the process of seeing whether an investor is willing to buy Mydibel or participate in the company. To gauge the interest in the market, an investment bank (ING) and a law firm were hired.
The list of obvious candidates naturally includes market leader McCain, known for its acquisitions of Belgian competitors. The Canadian chip giant also took over Lutosa about ten years ago. Aviko and Farm Frites are also mentioned, as are Clarebout and Agristo, Mydibel's Flemish competitors.
Not a small player in the chip market
Mydibel, with its head office in Mouscron, East Flanders, is not a small player on the chip market. The company says it processes 2.000 tons of potatoes every day into fries and other frozen potato products.
Mydibel is a bit foggy about the total production. On one page on its own website, the family business reports an annual production of 255.000 tons of end product, while a further page shows a production of 330.000 tons, a significant difference.
Mydibel's customers can be found in food service, retail and industry. Turnover for 2021 amounted to €260 million and is therefore back to the level before the corona outbreak. According to De Tijd, the EBITDA for this current year amounts to €30 million. All in all, according to the Belgian medium, a sales price of €300 to €400 million cannot be ruled out.
A quarter of the energy requirement comes from our own waste flows
Mydibel was founded in the late 80s by the late Roger Mylle. His sons Bruno and Carlo now each have 40,4% of the shares. The remaining 19,2% stake is held by the Regional Investment Company of Wallonia (SRIW). This last participation was established to realize the expansion plans of the production location in Mouscron, along the Walloon border. In Mouscron the factory runs according to the Belgian edition Trends a quarter on green energy. This flow comes from the waste flows from the processing of the potatoes.
This is not sufficient to cope with the gigantic price increases on the energy market, CEO Marc van Herreweghe said in an interview from mid-September. "How do you react when a product goes multiplied by 30 in one week?" And: "Entrepreneurship is no fun today. But we are still looking forward to it. I am not pessimistic. We see every problem as a new opportunity. This is how we get up in the morning."