The InVivo Group and the Soufflet Group enter into exclusive negotiations with a view to a founding merger

The InVivo Group and the Soufflet Group enter into exclusive negotiations with a view to a founding merger

• This merger would pave the way for the creation of a leading French agricultural and agri-food champion of international stature;
• The combination of the activities of the InVivo Group with those of the Soufflet Group, most of which are complementary, would preserve their respective business structures, coherence, positioning and identity over the long term; 
• The new Group thus created would be positioned to meet the challenges of food sovereignty, competitiveness and sustainable development of French agriculture and the agri-food industry.

Paris - Nogent-sur-Seine, 13 January 2021 - The InVivo Group, a national union of French agricultural cooperatives with several strategic locations abroad, and the Soufflet Group, a French family-owned agri-food group with an international dimension, today announced that they have entered into exclusive negotiations with a view to the acquisition of 100% of the Soufflet Group's capital by the InVivo Group.

The agricultural and agri-food sector is facing many challenges: societal challenges with new consumer expectations (eating better, proximity, transparency, etc.), environmental challenges (combating global warming, protecting biodiversity, soil and water resources) and technological challenges (digitalisation, biotechnologies, etc.). It must also respond to the need for food sovereignty, which the health crisis has exacerbated. Finally, from an economic and demographic point of view, it must ensure the imperative need to feed the planet in a healthy and sustainable way, while ensuring that farmers' work is valued.

This new group, resulting from the merger of the InVivo Group and the Soufflet Group, would enable the emergence of a leading French agricultural and agri-food champion of international stature, thanks to the complementary nature of their respective activities and the pooling of their resources. It would be able to meet the challenges and issues facing the agricultural and agri-food sector in the societal, environmental, technological and food sovereignty fields and create value for farmers and all the players in the French agri-food sector.

With a combined turnover of nearly 10 billion euros, of which about half is generated internationally, this new group would have a presence in France and internationally, in more than 30 countries, with more than 90 industrial sites, 59 of which are in France, and more than 12,500 employees. Reaching such a critical size would be a unique opportunity for an undisputed French leader, with the support of its farming and industrial partners, to design and provide sustainable responses to these challenges and ensure the widest possible deployment, while strengthening its position in relation to European and international competition, through massive investment in innovation and ecological transition, and the agronomic and digital transformation of the agricultural and agri-food sectors.

Philippe Mangin, Chairman of the InVivo Group, said: "Access to food resources has become a strategic issue that reinforces the need to preserve food sovereignty in France - the 'made in France' food industry - but also in Europe. The merger of our two groups would allow us to take up this challenge with a 100% French response and would be a spearhead for the agricultural transition and the interests of 'Ferme France'."

The combined strengths of these two leading French players would considerably strengthen the excellent and sustainable sectors, from field to consumer, in the production of wheat, barley, plant proteins and the vine sector. The pooling of the two groups' know-how and skills would thus meet the expectations of citizens concerned about the quality and safety of the food chain, the preservation of their environment, the promotion of the territories and, of course, the better valuation of agricultural production.

Michel Soufflet, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Soufflet Group, said: "The Soufflet Group's family imprint and values remain the undisputed assets of our identity and play a crucial role in the relationship of trust that we have maintained with farmers, our partners for over 120 years. With this project, the Group could continue to serve and help its farmer customers to develop, as they have always done with it.

Maintaining the Soufflet brand and its talents would be the keystone of this merger, which would enable us to make the most of the values, positioning and know-how of each of our companies, for the benefit of all.

Jean-Michel Soufflet, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Soufflet Group, said: "The success of this merger would be based on preserving the identity of each Group, while continuing to highlight their roots, their reputation and their local and international footprints, so as to enable them to pursue their respective development, in the service of their partners, be they manufacturers or farmers, in line with the cereal sectors built up over the years. By joining forces with InVivo, our family group would find a French solution to perpetuate its identity, ensure the continuity of its activities and preserve its Nogent-based roots and regional presence."

Driven by a common requirement in terms of social and environmental responsibility and supported by the strengthening of their investments and their innovations in favour of a better valorisation and preservation of agro-resources, the association of the two Groups would allow to accelerate the access of all farmers to the most recent and most environmentally friendly techniques for a large-scale deployment within the "French Farm".

Thierry Blandinières, CEO of the InVivo Group, concludes: "The combination of our common businesses in cereal trading would strengthen the international positioning of the new entity. The complementarity of all our other businesses, such as the pooling of our material and human resources, the legitimacy of our unique know-how and agronomic knowledge, accumulated over decades, combined with strong roots in our territories, would enable us to operate at all levels of the value chain. We would thus be ideally positioned to solve the increasingly complex challenges of the agricultural and food transition that only major players are capable of taking on."

The employee representative bodies of each of the two Groups were informed today of this project and an information-consultation process would be initiated rapidly. The merger between the two Groups would be subject to the prior authorisation of the competent merger control authorities. The entire transaction could be finalised before the end of 2021.