Aryzta Raises €240m to Fund Acquisition
Swiss and international speciality bakery group Aryzta has successfully raised SFr325m (Eur242m) to principally fund the acquisition of the remaining 50% share of its Maidstone Bakery joint venture in North America held by Tim Hortons, as announced in August 2010. The funds have been raised by a hybrid instrument, which will qualify as equity under international financial reporting standards. The hybrid capital raising was taken up by a broad Swiss retail investor base.
“This has been a first time for us to access the market for hybrid financing instruments and we are very pleased with the strong demand from predominantly Swiss investors. It enables us to fund the announced acquisition of the remaining 50% in Maidstone Bakeries not yet owned by Aryzta while at the same time retaining a prudent capital structure,” points out Owen Killian, chief executive of Aryzta.
