08 June 2023

Nimbus agrees to acquire the Cuijk potato factory from Aviko

On the 5th of June 2023, Nimbus Investment Fund V Coöperatief U.A. (“Nimbus”), through a wholly owned holding entity, signed an agreement with Aviko B.V. (“Aviko”) to acquire its steam-fresh and pre-cooked potato factory in Cuijk, the Netherlands, subject to certain completion conditions. Completion is expected ultimately end of September 2023.

Aviko Cuijk has been successfully part of the Aviko Group for over 15 years. In recent years, Aviko’s strategy focused more on the frozen potato range and fries market (both fresh and frozen). Aviko Cuijk produces a wide range of steam fresh and pre-cooked potato varieties which, given their nature, have a less prominent position in Aviko’s strategic product portfolio. Therefore, Aviko has decided its Cuijk operations are better off in a stand-alone setting.

Nimbus is delighted to invest in Aviko Cuijk, which will be rebranded into Frespo. Nimbus will support Frespo to transition into a focussed and customer centric stand-alone organisation. Frespo will continue its successful strategy focussing on steam fresh and pre-cooked potato products for the Foodservice and Business to Industry markets across Europe. Nimbus supports Frespo’s growth ambitions and is looking forward working together with its key stakeholders, including the customers, suppliers and employees.

Nimbus is a private investment company that has been operating for over 20 years, with offices in the Netherlands (Zeist), Germany (Munich) and United Kingdom (Leeds). Nimbus invests in companies that are at crossroads in their development and are ready for their next growth phase. Frespo has exhibited potential that can be realized through additional development and investments, operational improvements and growth and was therefore the logical choice for Nimbus.

“With Nimbus as new owner of the Cuijk site, we expect a bright future to lie ahead for the factory and its employees. The site has a good customer portfolio, professional machinery and, above all, committed employees with a great deal of knowledge and expertise. As part of Nimbus, the plant will have the opportunity to focus on fresh speciality products and invest in its future”, says Maarten van Delst, CEO Aviko Group.

“We are delighted to invest in Frespo. The business offers high quality fresh products and operates a very talented team. The end-market and customer demands offer significant opportunities for Frespo to continue and accelerate its growth. We will support the business in any way we can in the years to come,” says Alexander de Haas, partner at Nimbus. The Nimbus team has relevant operational and strategic skills which form the basis of strong partnerships with management teams. It also has significant experience in the (food)manufacturing industry and carving-out non-core business units from larger companies.

Nimbus is pleased that it has already appointed a new management team whilst the commercial and overhead teams will be further built. Anouk ter Laak will be the CEO and brings extensive commercial and operational experience, while Coen Coremans as the CFO brings extensive finance experience. “Frespo has great potential and together with Nimbus we can shape our future and realise the heights of our ambitions. We are excited to continue delivering delicious, high quality and varied products to our customers and to continue to work closely with our suppliers. Our strategy is to focus on building a great team, an efficient operation and growth via innovations, our existing and new customers and markets,” says Anouk ter Laak.