Natra acquires Bredabest

Name of the deal: Natra acquires Bredabest from Bredabest’s founders
Date announced: Announced 4 September 2025 (closing expected end of October due to antutrust filing in Germany)
Date closed: Announced 4 September 2025 (closing expected end of October due to antutrust filing in Germany)
Published value: 100-250 million
Buyer(s): Natra (portfolio company of Capvest)
Target(s): Bredabest
Seller: Founders

Involved firms and advisors
Involved firms and advisors buy side:
ING – M&A Advisory  Orange Clover – Legal Advisory  KPMG – FDD & Tax Advisory  PwC – ESG DD

Involved firms and advisors target:
Squarefield – M&A Advisory

Involved firms and advisors sell side:
Squarefield – M&A Advisory  Kröller M&A – M&A Transaction Insurance  Vriman M&A Lawyers – Legal Advisory  PwC – FDD  VanLoman – Tax Advisory

Pitch

Brief description deal / Deal outline
Spanish chocolate manufacturer Natra has agreed to acquire Bredabest, the Dutch company producing peanut butter and other peanut-based products.

Why should this deal win the Award for Best Deal Mid-Cap 2025?
About Natra
Natra is a leading Spanish manufacturer of chocolate and confectionery products, specializing in private label and co-manufacturing for major retailers and brands worldwide. The company, backed by private equity firm CapVest, operates production facilities in Spain, Belgium, France, and Canada, serving customers in over 90 countries. Natra is recognized for its strong focus on innovation, sustainability, and high-quality chocolate, pralines, and spreads. In recent years, it has pursued a strategic expansion plan through acquisitions, including Belgian premium chocolate maker Gudrun in 2024.

About Bredabest
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in the Netherlands, Bredabest is a prominent European producer of peanut butter and peanut-based ingredients. The company supplies natural and value-added peanut products to retailers, food brands, and manufacturers in over 30 countries. With two modern processing facilities in the Netherlands, Bredabest is known for its high product quality, sustainable sourcing, and flexible production capabilities. Led by its founders, Pieter Stienen and Rainier van Rey, the company has grown steadily as a trusted supplier within the European food industry.

The acquisition of Bredabest by Natra, a leading European chocolate manufacturer owned by CapVest, stands out as a landmark transaction in the European midcap M&A landscape. This deal is not only significant in terms of scale and strategic rationale but also in its transformative impact on the European snacking sector. It represents the convergence of two complementary powerhouses—one the largest peanut processor in Europe, the other a premium private-label chocolate product producer—creating a vertically integrated leader uniquely positioned to dominate both B2B and B2C markets across the continent.

At the heart of the deal lies Bredabest’s unmatched scale and reputation in peanut processing. Based in the Netherlands, Bredabest has long been recognized as Europe’s largest peanut processor and one of the most trusted suppliers of high-quality nut ingredients for the food and snack industry. With deep relationships across major European manufacturers and retailers, Bredabest’s reach extends across the entire value chain—from sourcing and roasting to distribution. Its operational excellence, technical expertise, and commitment to sustainability have made it a cornerstone of the European snacking ecosystem.

Natra’s acquisition of Bredabest creates a true powerhouse in snacking ingredients and private-label products. Natra already occupies a leading position in the premium chocolate, spreads, and confectionery categories, supplying major retailers and brands across Europe and beyond. By adding Bredabest’s capabilities in peanut processing and nut ingredient production, Natra significantly expands its product portfolio, manufacturing scale, and supply chain resilience. The combined entity is now able to serve customers with a full suite of chocolate, nut, and snack ingredient solutions—ranging from bulk B2B ingredients to finished premium private-label products for leading European retailers.

The strategic fit between Natra and Bredabest is particularly compelling because of their complementary market positions. Bredabest’s strength lies in its deep B2B relationships and technical processing know-how, while Natra brings excellence in product innovation, brand partnerships, and consumer-facing private-label expertise. Together, they bridge the gap between ingredient manufacturing and consumer product development, creating unique synergies that few competitors can replicate. This combination positions the new group as one of Europe’s most diversified and resilient players in the fast-growing snacking industry—an industry characterized by shifting consumer preferences toward healthier, more natural, and protein-rich snacks.

Beyond strategic complementarity, the transaction deserves recognition for its complex and expertly executed deal structure. The acquisition required navigating a multifaceted regulatory landscape, complex cross-border integration planning, and alignment between two organizations with distinct but compatible operational cultures. CapVest’s experience as a leading European private equity firm specializing in mid-market consumer and food businesses was instrumental in ensuring the transaction’s success. Its long-term investment approach, combined with a deep understanding of operational transformation, allowed for a seamless process that balanced strategic ambition with practical execution.

The operational and cultural alignment between Natra and Bredabest has also been a decisive factor in the deal’s success. Both organizations share a commitment to quality, sustainability, and innovation. Their cultures emphasize operational excellence, customer collaboration, and responsible sourcing—values that are increasingly essential in the modern food industry. This cultural compatibility ensures not only an effective integration process but also a solid foundation for sustained growth and innovation in the years ahead.  From a broader perspective, the acquisition reinforces the Netherlands’ position as a central hub in Europe’s food and agri-processing industry. It exemplifies the strength and sophistication of the Dutch midcap M&A market, highlighting the country’s ability to attract and facilitate high-impact, strategically driven transactions. The deal also demonstrates how midcap transactions can deliver transformative value and long-term industrial leadership, not merely financial returns.

Ultimately, the acquisition of Bredabest by Natra represents the perfect synthesis of strategic vision, operational fit, and industry leadership. It creates a European champion with the scale, innovation capability, and market reach to shape the future of the snacking industry. For its strategic significance, flawless execution, and potential to redefine the European food landscape, this transaction stands as a benchmark for excellence and deserves to be recognized as the Best Midcap Deal of 2025 in the Netherlands.

What is the impact of this deal for the company?
For Bredabest, the acquisition by Natra and CapVest represents a transformational growth opportunity. It enhances market access, innovation capacity (also for more integrated snack products), and financial strength while preserving the company’s operational excellence and entrepreneurial culture. The partnership positions Bredabest as not only the largest peanut processor in Europe but also a key strategic enabler in the continent’s fast-evolving snacking ecosystem. The transaction will unlock various new markets and potential customers for Bredabest, whilst Natra will benefit from being able to offer a broader set of ingredients and products.

Given that Natra operates similarly, targeting both B2B markets with key chocolate ingredients and B2C markets with premium private label retail solutions, the day-to-day focus areas for the company and its employees and the underlying way of working will remain exactly the same.    In short, the deal transforms Bredabest from a world-class processor into a European industry leader with expanded reach, deeper innovation potential, and a stronger foundation for sustainable, long-term success.

What is the impact of this deal for the direct stakeholders?
The founders of Bredabest, will remain shareholders alongside CapVest, benefitting from further acceleration of the combined growth opportunities ahead.

Employees become part of a much larger and fully complementary group, hence there will be no loss of employment. On the contrary, the accelerated growth is expected to only further boost employment demand, whilst the size and international character of the new group will open a new horizon of professional and personal development opportunities.

The combined group will offer customers a true one-stop partner for nut-based, chocolate, and snack ingredient solutions. The combination will also increase the level of innovation and the ability to create fully integrated solutions, leveraging on the combined expertise of peanuts and chocolate.

Suppliers – especially raw material providers of peanuts, nuts, cocoa, and packaging – stand to benefit from the increased scale and growth potential of the new group.

What is the impact of this deal on society?
The acquisition of Bredabest by Natra has far-reaching positive effects on society. It contributes to:

• Strengthened European food security and self-sufficiency
• More sustainable and ethical agricultural supply chains
• Local job creation and regional economic stability
• Healthier and more sustainable consumer choices
• Greater innovation and modernization in food production
• Reinforcement of Europe’s global leadership in sustainable agri-food industries

In essence, this deal is a model of responsible industrial consolidation – one that balances economic ambition with social progress, environmental responsibility, and consumer well-being. It demonstrates how thoughtful private investment and strategic partnerships can drive shared value creation for business, people, and planet alike.

What was most complex about this deal?
What made this deal complex was not a single obstacle, but the combination of financial sophistication, cross-border coordination, operational integration, cultural alignment, and various shareholder preferences and objectives – all within a fast-moving and highly competitive industry.

To summarize the core complexities:

• Create a mutual beneficiary shareholder structure set for further accelerated growth
• Cross-border regulatory challenges
• Cultural and organizational alignment
• Operational integration across complex supply chains
• Execution amid macroeconomic uncertainty

Despite these challenges, the acquisition succeeded because it was strategically sound, culturally compatible, and operationally well-managed. The result is a unified group positioned to lead Europe’s snacking industry – proof that even the most complex deals can deliver exceptional value when vision and execution align.