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The world’s biggest frozen croissant IPO has fizzled as Spanish group Europastry postponed its planned flotation for the second time in less than four months.
Shares in Europastry, a maker of frozen baked goods for many of the world’s coffee shop chains, were due to start trading on Thursday, but its family owners cancelled the plan on Tuesday with less than two days notice.
The founding Gallés family, who hail from Barcelona, was seeking a valuation of up to €1.5bn, but bankers said the bookbuilding process had not gone well as some investors viewed the price it was seeking as too high.
Europastry cancelled its previous flotation attempt in late June, citing market uncertainty caused by the upcoming French parliamentary election, even though it had announced the IPO plan 10 days earlier when the French election had already been called.
In a statement on Tuesday the company attributed its latest postponement to “the international geopolitical situation, which is causing profound instability in the markets”.
The company said it had “received a very good response from investors” and would “continue to evaluate the possibility of going public when the market situation allows it”.
The investment banks working on the flotation globally are JPMorgan, UBS and ING.
Europastry has more than doubled its sales in the past seven years, logging revenue of €1.35bn in 2023.
The company wanted to raise up to €210mn from the sale of new shares and €295mn from stock sold by existing shareholders.
Europastry has been a silent force behind the growth of pre-made frozen pastries, which can be thawed then cooked on coffee shop premises and have been displacing freshly produced alternatives — even in the pastry heartland of France.
In France, frozen products accounted for 24 per cent of all pastries and other sweet baked goods in 2021. In the UK, 21 per cent of pastries were frozen, compared with 13 per cent in Spain and 17 per cent in the US, according to research groups Gira and Global Market Insights.
Europastry operates in more than 80 countries and its clients include Starbucks, Pret A Manger and the Spanish chain Manolo Bakes, which is known for its mini-croissants.
Last month Jordi Gallés, Europastry’s executive chair and the son of its founder, told the Financial Times the company’s role was not hidden, but said: “A lot of times [clients] are shy about it, mostly because they don’t want the competition to know how they do it.”
Europastry, which churns out more than 5,000 different products from bread to doughnuts, has 27 highly automated factories in seven countries.
