Malteries Soufflet to acquire Belgian malthouse La Malterie du Château

Malteries Soufflet and Jean Louis Dourcy, majority shareholder of Castle Malting, announce the signature of a binding agreement on the acquisition by Malteries Soufflet of 100% of the Belgian company.

InVivo wishes to make the "malt" business one of the founding pillars of its economic model and to continue its development in order to make its malt division a world leader. Castle Malting, whose specificity is to offer a unique range of traditional and special malts, will give Malteries Soufflet the opportunity to develop its activity in the higher value-added "craft" market, with a platform enabling it to supply brewers throughout the world.

Belgium is world famous for its malt, with malts exported to more than 160 countries. The unique properties of these malts contribute to the reputation of many Belgian beers. Castle Malting, established in 1868, is the oldest malthouse in Belgium and one of the oldest in the world, renowned for its complete range of traditional and special malts for brewers and distillers, whose slogan is "a malt for every brewer". The diversity and the exceptional nature of the traditional malts, hops, yeasts and services offered by Castle Malting group, associated with the worldwide network of Malteries Soufflet, is a precious advantage to meet the growing demand of the craft brewers and distillers worldwide.

Jean-Louis Dourcy, CEO of Castle Malting: "I am delighted with this agreement with the InVivo group which is a leading international agri-food player with an already powerful malt division. I am confident that Malteries Soufflet will be able to make the most of the strengths of Castle Malting and further its development."

Thierry Blandinières, CEO of InVivo: "The acquisition of Castle Malting will provide good prospects in the craft market, a high value-added market where we are not yet very present. In addition, Castle Malting will strengthen our malt business, a strategic activity for InVivo that will experience significant growth in the coming years."

The Malteries Soufflet employee representative committees, which were consulted earlier this week on this project, gave a unanimously positive response. This acquisition should be finalized during the first quarter of 2023.