Grupo Bimbo enters Romania with the Acquisition of Bakery Vel Pitar.

Grupo Bimbo, a Mexican bread behemoth, has struck again on the mergers and acquisitions market with an agreement to purchase the Romanian bakery Vel Pitar.

Grupo Bimbo is acquiring the company from NCH Capital, a New York-based private equity firm that has Vel Pitar in its New Century Holdings fund.

A representative for Grupo Bimbo acknowledged the publicly traded business had "reached an agreement" to buy Vel Pitar, situated in the Romanian city of Ramnicu Valcea, but added "at this time we are unable to provide any other details." The purchase represents a new market for the Mexican company, which does not presently operate in Romania, according to a representative for Just Food.

According to its website, Vel Pitar was founded in 2001 and makes branded bread, rolls, and sweet delicacies like as doughnuts and pretzels for the retail channel. The company has eleven plants in nine cities in Romania, including Valcea, Arges, Brasov, Cluj, Galati, Lasi, Giurgiu, Gorj, Olt, and Dambovita. The firm employs about 2,500 individuals.

According to data published by GlobalData, Vel Pitar was the second-largest player in the bread and cereals industry in Romania in terms of market value in 2021, with a 10% share. GoodMills Group is in first place with 13.9%, followed by ETI Gida with 6.0%.

Bread and rolls are the leading category among bakery and cereals, according to Just Food's parent company's statistics.