Romanian entrepreneurial group Cris-Tim Family Holding (BVB: CFH), a producer of cold cuts and ready meals, listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) on November 26 at a price 5.8% above its initial public offering (IPO) valuation. The opening price gave the company a market capitalisation of RON1.41bn (€277mn).

Chief executive officer Radu Timiș Jr. said the company is pursuing organic expansion alongside possible acquisitions. “We will focus on developing new production capacities, new logistics capacities and storage infrastructure. Moreover, we will analyse market targets – competing players that can be the subject of top M&A transactions,” Timiș Jr. said at the listing event.

Cris-Tim completed its IPO between October 17 and 29, raising RON454.35mn from retail and institutional investors. The offer covered 27.8mn shares, representing 34.5% of the post-IPO share capital of 80.6mn shares. It consisted of 5.6mn new shares and a stake sold by founding shareholders. Demand during the subscription period was high, the company said.

Remus Vulpescu, CEO of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, said the market "welcomes Cris-Tim with open arms". "Today we send a clear signal: the BVB is ready to assume the role of financier of the entire Romanian economy, not just of traditional players in energy and finance," he said, according to a BVB press release.

"For the Stock Exchange, Cris-Tim is an invitation for the BVB to increase its efforts to attract companies from new and more diversified sectors and a challenge to ensure that our market is optimally positioned to receive listings from agriculture, tourism, trade and services. For investors, Cris-Tim is an opportunity to expose themselves to a sector that they know and use daily, but in which they have not had the opportunity to invest systematically until now."

For the period 2025 to 2030, Cris-Tim plans investments of RON890mn, with RON768mn allocated to the cold cuts division and RON121mn to the ready-meals segment and other projects. A portion of the programme focuses on expanding existing production capacity and is partly financed through Investalim, the national programme for revitalising the agri-food industry.

The investment plan is scheduled for implementation between 2025 and 2028, following the financing agreement signed on October 8, 2024 with the Agency for Financing Rural Investments.

Alongside its organic growth strategy, Cris-Tim intends to identify acquisition opportunities to strengthen its competitive position in the cold cuts and ready-meals markets and broaden its portfolio. The company said it aims to maintain a disciplined capital allocation framework once listed.

Cris-Tim said it intends to distribute at least 50% of its annually distributable net profit as ordinary dividends, in line with its post-listing shareholder policy.