Swiss Potato Processor Kadi AG gets new ownership as German private equity investor Paragon Partners has agreed to sell its majority share shares in the company to Invision, an investment company in Zug (CH), thereby securing KADI’s long-term, independent perspective as leading supplier of premium potato products in Switzerland.
KADI’s management team, led by CEO Christof Lehmann, remains in office unchanged and reinvests alongside Invision.
Paragon Partners acquired KADI in a secondary buyout from Equity Capital Management GmbH (ECM) in June 2013.
Under the stewardship of Paragon Partners, management and the supervisory board have successfully worked on a number of improvement initiatives to secure KADI’s position as the leading producer of Swiss premium potato products.
KADI has developed into one of the leading brands in the convenience sector with particularly innovative and high-quality products in recent years.
Marco Attolini, Managing Partner of Paragon Partners:
“We’ve invested a lot in the development of KADI and are pleased that the company has grown accordingly.”
“We thank the KADI management team and all employees. With optimized processes and a new baking line, we are handing over the company to its new owners.”
Marco Martelli, partner at Invision:
“We are highly enthusiastic about KADI as an innovative premium supplier of convenience products and look forward to supporting management on their well-established growth-path.”
KADI CEO Christof Lehmann:
“This step means the seamless continuation of the long-term corporate strategy that we developed with Paragon’s support.”
“We are pleased to have an experienced and entrepreneurial investor from Switzerland as new majority shareholder who guarantees our independence and who commits to our production site in Langenthal and all jobs.”
Best-in-class, well-established management guarantees continuity
Apart from the retirement of Kurt Mosimann, Head of Finance, in spring 2019, there will be no changes to the management team under Christof Lehmann’s leadership. As a successor to Kurt Mosimann KADI was able to win Stephen Schaub (40), currently CFO at Ivers-Lee in Burgdorf, as of 1 January 2019.
The well-established management team assures the continuity of KADI as an important player in the Swiss food service and retail sector.
Founded in 1951, the company has become specialised in producing high-quality refrigerated and frozen products for the catering and retail sector.
In 2017, KADI achieved sales of CHF 75 million with 180 employees.
