LThe specialist frozen food brand Picard, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first store this year, is on the verge of falling entirely by the first quarter of 2025 into the hands of businessman Moez-Alexandre Zouari, already present to its capital since 2020.
“We are very happy and very proud to see this magnificent company return to the fold of a French family”: distribution specialist Moez-Alexandre Zouari, whose company so far owns 49% of the capital of Picard, s is delighted on Monday with the upcoming repurchase of the rest of the capital of the brand.
Invest Groupe Zouari (IGZ), a company controlled by the Zouari family, has signed a “promise to purchase to acquire the entire stake of its co-shareholder Lion Capital”, an investment fund which owns 51% of Picard Surgelés, according to a communicated Monday.
Increased engagement
The completion of the transaction, expected “during the first quarter of 2025”, will mark the exit of the British fund “after 15 years of presence in the capital of Picard Surgelés”.
“This new stage is a continuation of the work started four years ago and allows us to further increase our commitment to the success of Picard,” commented Moez-Alexandre Zouari, major franchisee of the Casino group and owner of the bazaar brands Maxi Bazar and Stokomani.
Also a shareholder of the distributor Teract (Gamm Vert, Jardiland, Boulangeries Louise), he was also for a time a candidate for the takeover of the Casino group, alongside businessmen Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse. The group with the Monoprix, Franprix and CDiscount brands was finally taken over by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
“I look forward to working even more closely with management and employees, to pursue the ambitious development strategy that we have defined for Picard and thus work towards its success in France and internationally,” said Moez-Alexandre. Zouari.
Old “ice boxes”
A well-known brand, Picard is celebrating this year “the 50th anniversary of its first frozen products store, opened in 1974 in Paris”. She indicated in March that it was a “key date, after that of 1906, the year of the creation of the company Les Glacières de Fontainebleau”, its ancestor which supplied Parisian cafés with ice cakes, and “the one of 1920, the year of the purchase of the company by Mr. Picard who gave it his name.
Picard, chaired by the former boss of Franprix Cécile Guillou, today boasts 1,185 points of sale, for around 1.7 billion euros in annual turnover during the last known financial year, closed on March 31, 2023, and employs around 4,500 people. The brand is present in Europe, the Middle East and Asia with stores or dedicated spaces (“corners”).
The brand has the particularity of essentially marketing products for which it has determined the recipes and specifications under its own brands, a model that is generally more profitable than selling products from major national brands.
In addition, freezing greatly reduces losses and the brand’s margins are viewed with envy by some food retailers. Picard is the market leader in frozen food specialists, far ahead of its competitor Thiriet.
The managing director of the outgoing Lion Capital fund, Lyndon Lea, said he was “proud of the role” that his fund “has played in the evolution of Picard over the last 15 years”.
“As we are accustomed to, we are leaving our partner with a profitable company, well positioned in its market and ready to continue its growth,” he indicated, also looking forward to “offering a very good return to our investors.”
