The operation strengthens the Costa Food Group holding’s presence with regard to the end consumer and reinforces its industrial structure

Grupo Empresarial Costa has acquired Juan Luna, a leading company in the European market in sliced cold meats and cheese and meat snacks. The company’s majority shareholder until now was Nazca Capital. This brand is thus added to the Costa Food Group holding, the only national meat purveyor which currently supplies ‘Iberico’ and white pork, chicken, and turkey. As explained by Jorge Costa, CEO of the group, “The acquisition of Juan Luna allows us to strengthen our options in the pre-packaged food market, and also to extend our ranges. It will undoubtedly boost our growth, as it is a leading company in cutting, slicing and packaging. This incorporation is key to bringing continuity to our commitment to being closer to the end consumer”.

Álvaro Mariátegui, CEO of Nazca, explained that “Juan Luna is our twenty-third divestment, following a project in which we have opted for industrial reinforcement and the transformation of a family business into a leading Spanish company with independent, professional management. The choice of buyer of our investees is very important to us and we are convinced that Costa Food Group is the ideal group in which to integrate Juan Luna, for its prestige, growth strategy and cross-selling potential”.

The Juan Luna plant in Sollana (Valencia) produces pre-packaged, ready-to-eat meat and cheese products in different formats: sliced, cuts, diced, wedges, cheeseboards, presentation cases, etc. The company has 245 employees and its aggregate turnover in 2021 was 56.5 million euros. Grupo Costa’s aggregate turnover forecast for 2021 is 1700 million euros.

Sustainability and circular economy

Juan Luna was founded in1989 and is backed by over 30 years’ experience in the sector. It is fully aligned with the sustainability values of Costa Food Group, and one of its initiatives is to work towards the reduction of its carbon footprint by maintaining zero levels of CO₂ emissions. It also applies a circular economy model whereby it reuses its cardboard and plastic surpluses to create new packaging, thus promoting environmentally responsible practices.

About Grupo Empresarial Costa

Grupo Empresarial Costa, which is based in Aragon, currently has the third-largest livestock population in Europe under the name of Piensos Costa and is present in the agri-food, renewable energy, automotive, crop protection, hotel and real estate sectors. Within the agri-food sector it operates in 107 countries through the meat holding Costa Food Group, which in turn is composed of Piensos Costa, Costa Food Meat, Casademont, Industrias Cárnicas Villar, Ibéricos Costa, Embutidos La Nuncia, Grupo Aviserrano, Roler, La Alegría Riojana and now, Juan Luna.

Thanks to all of these brands, the entire production process of ‘Iberico’ and white pork, chicken and turkey is fully monitored from the farm to the table, with the inherent premise of all Costa Food products: to be natural from the start.

Grupo Costa is currently present in eleven autonomous communities: Aragon, Catalonia, Navarre, Andalusia, Castile and León, Castilla-La Mancha, the Valencian Community, Extremadura, the Basque Country, Murcia and La Rioja.

About Nazca

Nazca is a private equity fund management company which specialises in the Spanish middle market. It leads its market segment, both in volume of operations carried out, and in the returns obtained from its investments.