Nutresa Enters Chile

Colombia’s Grupo Nutresa has agreed to pay $758m for Tresmontes Lucchetti, gaining entry into the Chilean food products market. The transaction comes at 12.6x 2012 Ebitda and Nutresa plans to pay for the deal using funds on hands and existing bank lines, Nutresa says. Tresmontes Lucchetti chooses the sale over an IPO, for which it made an initial registration for earlier this year. The Chilean target also has operations in Mexico, offering Nutresa expansion opportunities there. The transaction is expected to close in September or October. Lazard advised Nutresa, and Celfin advised Tresmontes Lucchetti.