Chocolates Sweet on Buys

Colombian food conglomerate Grupo Nacional de Chocolates (GNC) is considering acquisition opportunities and may announce a deal as soon as next month, CEO Carlos Enrique Piedrahita tells LatinFinance. “In 2005 we established a goal of doubling our sales by 2010 and we have achieved that. Now we want to triple 2005’s sales by 2015 and we plan to do this via acquisitions and organic growth,” he explains. Tripling 2005’s sales would require generating COP6.9trn ($4.0bn) in revenue, according to company documents. Acquisitions will most likely occur outside of Colombia. “Our strategic focus is on the US, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and the Andean region,” Piedrahita says, adding that while Brazil is not considered within its strategic focus, GNC has looked at opportunities there. Piedrahita also says that GNC will focus on companies with revenues between $50m-$500m and that acquisitions will likely be financed with a mixture of cash on hand and debt. “If we were to make a larger acquisition we would consider issuing shares or bonds,” he explains. In September, GNC announced its purchase of US-based Fehr Holdings for $84m, for which it retained Stephens Cori.