The Emmi Group, a Swiss dairy products manufacturer, has entered a put option agreement to acquire Mademoiselle Desserts Group, a French baking manufacturer that specializes in pastries, for approximately €900 million ($974.2 million).

Founded in 1984, Mademoiselle Desserts Group manufactures pastries in addition to supplying a wide range of products, which includes sweet pastries, cakes, gateaux, millefeuilles and beignets. The company has approximately 2,000 employees and operates 12 production sites spread out across France, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Belgium. Mademoiselle generated annual sales of nearly €420 million in 2023 and has been a certified B Corp since 2022.

Emmi said the acquisition would allow the company to continue expanding its market presence in the “premium desserts” category as part of a “proven strategy and focused internationalization.” The company has acquired several dessert companies since 2011, including Pasticceria Quadrifoglio srl. and Indulge Desserts, to build up its dessert expertise as dessert sales currently account for 9% of all Emmi sales.

“With the contemplated acquisition of the Mademoiselle Desserts Group, we have the ambition of strengthening our strategic premium desserts category and, as ‘category captain’ and preferred business partner, will be able to offer our customers an innovative and high-quality full range,” said Ricarda Demarmels, chief executive officer of the Emmi Group. “This strategically important step would allow us to exploit the global growth opportunities in the premium desserts category and take our portfolio transformation further. We aim to unite the ‘savoir faire’ of the French dessert-making and patisserie from Mademoiselle Desserts with the dessert creations of our passionate ‘pasticceri’ and innovative American and Latin inspired desserts from Italy and the US under the Emmi Group umbrella. We are delighted to have this opportunity through the contemplated transaction to welcome Mademoiselle Desserts to our group. It is a company that lives our entrepreneurial values and, with B Corp certification, also meets our demands for responsible corporate management.”

Emmi said the current CEO of Mademoiselle Desserts Group, Didier Boudy, would run the new “Desserts Powerhouse,” which would combine Mademoiselle with other Emmi dessert companies from Italy and the United States, to better understand strategic development of the dessert business as well as ensure continuity in management and guarantee optimal integration.

The acquisition will be completed after the “relevant employee representative bodies” of Mademoiselle consult with one another and “relevant competition authorities and regulatory authorities” send in their approval, Emmi said.