CVC Capital Partners to acquire majority interest in Greek cheese company Dodoni

Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners has agreed to acquire a majority stake in SI Foods Holding, giving it control of the Greek dairy business Dodoni.

SI Foods is a majority shareholder of Dodoni and the agreement will see CVC take a majority interest in the brand, which manufactures a range of cheeses such as feta and halloumi. 

Through the partnership, the companies aim to grow Dodoni’s presence in the speciality cheese and related sectors through investments and possible acquisitions in both Greece and abroad.

The deal comes a few weeks after CVC completed its acquisition of Greek food company Vivartia, parent company to dairy and beverages firm Delta.

Under the terms of the agreement, the current owners of SI Foods will remain active shareholders and will continue to manage Dodoni, its subsidiaries and its operations.

In 2012, Dodoni was privatised by the Greek state and sold to SI Foods. Since then, the subsequent owners have invested in Dodoni’s production facilities, organisation, sales and marketing. SI Foods says Dodoni’s revenues have almost doubled with around 50% being generated through exports. It has also increased its employees from 270 to over 600 in Greece.

“We are proud to enter into this exciting partnership with CVC enabling us to take the next step in our long-term strategy to transform Dodoni,” said Tom Seepers, CEO of Dodoni.

“The current shareholders and management of Dodoni remain committed to their long-term strategy of growing the company and providing stability and security to its suppliers and employees. With CVC we have secured a strong partner with a focus on sustainable value creation, who shares our focus on ESG and can enable us to accelerate the future development of Dodoni.”

CVC Funds has a dedicated team is Athens which has invested or committed more than €1 billion of equity since 2017 in companies including Hellenic Healthcare Group, Skroutz and Vivartia.