Cris-Tim Family Holding S.A. (BVB: CFH), the market leader in cold cuts and ready meals in Romania, has signed an agreement to acquire Via Trend Ready Meals S.R.L. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Snack 4U Concept S.R.L.
The transaction brings together two benchmark companies in Romania’s ready meals segment and adds the country’s largest sandwich manufacturer to Cris-Tim’s operations, contributing to the implementation of the growth strategy presented to investors at the time of the IPO.
“The signing of this agreement represents a major step forward in implementing the growth strategy we presented to investors during our IPO. This acquisition will significantly strengthen our leadership position in the ready meals segment and unlock new opportunities in the sandwich category. We see considerable potential in this category, which has consistently delivered double-digit annual growth, and we expect the demand drivers to remain strong. As the purchasing power of Romanian consumers converges toward European levels, we believe they will increasingly turn to fresh, practical, ready-to-eat, or ready-to-cook products that offer variety, simplify daily meal prep, and meet expectations regarding quality, nutritional value, and functional benefits. Additionally, we look forward to welcoming 380 new colleagues to the Cris-Tim team upon closing. Their expertise will play a vital role in our next growth phase, where we will work together to develop new products and raise standards across the entire category,” said Radu Timiș Jr., CEO of Cris-Tim Family Holding.
Via Trend is Cris-Tim’s primary competitor in the ready meals market, with comparable revenue levels and a similar product portfolio, while Snack 4U is the largest sandwich producer in Romania. Both companies manufacture proprietary brand products as well as private label items for international retail chains nationwide, with sandwiches also distributed through HoReCa and traditional retail channels. Their brand portfolio includes Daniela’s, Paparude, and Snack 4U.
The acquisition will extend Cris-Tim’s lead in the ready meals segment. Sandwiches represent a strategic category that the company has analyzed in recent years, offering significant potential for vertical integration. Cris-Tim already produces a substantial portion of the ingredients used in sandwich recipes, creating opportunities to combine its manufacturing capabilities with Snack 4U’s expertise. Coupled with Cris-Tim’s national distribution network, this integration will support new product development, broader market availability, and higher efficiency across the entire supply chain.
Via Trend and Snack 4U operate three production facilities—two owned and one leased—located in Moara Domnească (Ilfov County), Pietroasele (Buzău County), and Bucharest. These include a state-of-the-art, recently built facility with a production footprint of approximately 8,000 square meters. Alongside Cris-Tim’s existing ready meals operations spread across two locations, this infrastructure creates significant operational optimization opportunities. Following closing, the short-term goal is to consolidate combined ready meals and sandwich production volumes into no more than two locations, improving capacity utilization and generating manufacturing and logistics efficiencies.
The acquisition also provides an opportunity to execute Cris-Tim’s expansion plans more efficiently. The investment roadmap outlined at the IPO allocated approximately RON 100 million for a new ready meals factory that was also intended to house sandwich development capacities. The facility included in this transaction is comparable in scale to the one envisioned by Cris-Tim, allowing the company to achieve these strategic goals using existing infrastructure. Consequently, Cris-Tim expects to significantly revise down its planned capital expenditure for that project, avoiding duplicate manufacturing assets and allocating capital more effectively.
Based on management’s preliminary indicative aggregate evaluation of Via Trend and Snack 4U’s combined financial data for 2023–2025, the adjusted average annual revenue reached approximately RON 143 million, average annual EBITDA stood at RON 21 million, and average annual net profit was RON 9 million, representing an EBITDA margin of roughly 14.5%. These figures reflect unaudited estimates based on historical financial information prepared under Romanian Accounting Standards, with preliminary adjustments applied to approximate IFRS accounting principles. They have not been independently verified and do not represent results derived from a complete set of IFRS financial statements. These values illustrate the historical scale and profitability of the acquired entities and should not be construed as a forecast of their future contribution to Cris-Tim’s performance.
Under the agreement signed with Brainfly Ltd., Cris-Tim will directly acquire 100% of Via Trend and, indirectly through Via Trend, 100% of Snack 4U. The transaction has been approved by Cris-Tim’s Board of Directors and has received clearance from both the Romanian Competition Council and the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) screening body. The completion of the transaction is expected by the end of November 2026, subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions.
Given the projected transaction closing timeline, Cris-Tim’s revenue and profitability targets for 2026 remain unchanged. Following the completion of the acquisition, the company intends to absorb Via Trend and Snack 4U through a corporate merger, subject to corporate approvals and applicable legal procedures.
