Livingstone has advised Frutas Tono on its merger with Guillem Export
Livingstone’s food and beverage team has advised the shareholders of Frutas Tono on its merger with Guillem Export. Frutas Tono is dedicated to the production, packaging, and trading of citrus fruits and is known as a benchmark for quality in the Spanish citrus sector. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Founded in the late 1970s in Benifairó de la Valldigna (Valencia), Frutas Tono is a leading company in the citrus sector with a consolidated international presence. Frutas Tono produces and markets a wide range of citrus fruits, including oranges, clementines, mandarins, and hybrids. The company cultivates more than 1,000 hectares of land and has commercial activity in almost all EU countries and in China. It has two processing facilities specialized in the handling of these products.
Guillem Export, based in Xeresa (Valencia), manages about 130 million kilos of citrus fruits annually and has 1,200 employees. With this merger, Guillem takes another step in its strategy of using inorganic growth to become one of the leaders in the Spanish citrus market.
Founded by two families, the merger of these two companies creates a group that will manage more than 200 million kilos of citrus fruits, 100 kilos of which will be from its production. Maintaining their brands under the joint management of the Vercher and Guillem families, the products will be marketed in more than 25 countries. Through this transaction, the group will create a business structure for better customer service and quality throughout the year.
“This operation is key to advance the growth strategy we have implemented in recent years, after the integration of the commercial branch of Frutas Romu, the acquisition of Mugui (Guillem Muñoz), and now the merger with Tono,” says Fernando Guillem, president of Guillem Export.
Antonio Vercher, shareholder, and CEO of Frutas Tono, comments: “I would like to highlight the commitment that the entire Livingstone team has put into this transaction. It has been a long journey in which we have always been closely accompanied and advised by professionals whose collaboration and knowledge have been key to the success of the process.”
Ximo Villarroya, Livingstone’s partner in Spain responsible for this transaction, points out that “It has been a pleasure to advise the members of the Vercher family in such an important moment for them and particularly satisfying to see the creation of a group as powerful as the one that has been generated with the merger of these two historical companies in the citrus sector.”
After advising the shareholders of V.Ros on its integration into the Iberian Premium Fruit group and with this transaction, Livingstone has positioned itself as a leading advisor in the consolidation process that the Spanish citrus sector is undergoing.
