ARYZTA AG has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell 100 percent of the equity and assets of its North American business in the U.S. and Canada to an affiliate of Lindsay Goldberg LLC, for a total enterprise value of $850 million in cash.

The transaction is expected to complete by the end of ARYZTA’s current 2021 financial year and is subject to closing conditions customary for this type of transaction. The early conclusion of this successful disposal at a price within the initial guid- ance range validates the Board’s strategy to remain independent. The Board is fully convinced that its strategy serves shareholders’ and stakeholders’ best interests and provides the optimal route for value creation.

Due to the transaction, ARYZTA will now report H1 results one day earlier on 15 March. Additional disclosures and comments will be made along with our H1 results.

ARYZTA was advised on the transaction by Houlihan Lokey and Alantra, Goodwin Procter, Homburger and KPMG.

Welcoming the signing of the transaction, Chairman and interim CEO of ARYZTA, Urs Jordi said:

“This agreement represents a significant inflection point for ARYZTA and vindication of our simplification strategy to the outright sale option. I want to thank our share- holders and stakeholders for their confidence and support since September which enabled this transaction to materialize."

"Today’s transaction delivers significant debt reduction and balance sheet strength. It now allows us to focus on delivering further operatioal improvements and returning to organic growth. The agreed price reflects well on the underlying quality of the North American businesses, its assets, the significant recovery in performance achieved by the team and bodes well for its future performance prospects under its new owners.”