The move was initiated to allow Pidy CEO Thierry Dehaeck to step back from the business and will now advise on a consultancy basis during the initial months of the takeover.
Robert Whittle, general manager of Pidy UK, will be leading the Bouvard/Pidy UK operation. He said: “Being part of a larger family owned group brings the UK business a huge wealth of potential.
“Plans for the future roll-out of private label biscuits bring just one significant development to our expansion plans but moreover it has been made clear, from the plans presented by the Bouvard management, that they see pastry innovation as the key to continued growth in the Pidy range with investment plans in NPD, plant & machinery having already begun in earnest.
“We would like to reassure our customers that there will be no changes in business names or personnel in this deal. Pidy UK’s 40% growth over the last three years is set to continue in the pastry side of the business and it is very much business as normal.”
Biscuits Bouvard has been operating in the private label biscuit sector for 25 years and has a strong market presence in Europe. The company employs 1,200 and is split across seven production centres in France and one in Italy. It has a combined turnover of €250m.
Pidy, founded in 1968, has production sites in Belgium, France and the UK, alongside five sales organisations all of which deliver services in over 50 countries.