In-flight catering company up for sale

Abela Rocas, the company with a monopoly of the in-flight catering business in Romania, is to be taken over by Alpha Airports Group Plc, the leader of the British catering market, market sources told the weekly publication BUSINESS Magazin.

The deal, which includes Abela’s operations in Sofia, is put at several million dollars.

Abela Rocas was set up in Romania in 1993, with Abela Holding as its main shareholder (64%). Abela later sold its stake to Dutch company Vacoom in 2002. The remaining stock is held by Tarom (31%) and Bucharest Otopeni International Airport (5%).

The company’s two Romanian partners have preemption rights written into their contracts, though few believe they would be willing to pay several million euros for a catering business. Abela was set up in Romania as a joint venture with a 16-year life span (which can be extended). In-flight catering is the company’s main business, though the firm has two other units: an industrial catering unit and a services unit in Henri Coanda airport.

The airport services unit supplies cafes and restaurants inside Henri Coanda International Airport. The industrial catering unit is of low importance in terms of company turnover, with sales lower than 100,000 euros in 2004. Abela Rocas intends to approach this segment more aggressively, however, which it sees as a development opportunity, according to company officials.

This all comes at a time when the airline crisis is also hurting their suppliers, as clearly reflected in their results. In 2004, turnover for the company in Romania was 8 million dollars, lower than for both 2000 and 2001, which saw 9.3 and 8.5 million dollars of turnover respectively.