The situation
Thousands of family food companies in Spain were founded between 1975 and 1995. Their founders are now between 60 and 75. In many of them the children studied something else, live in another city or do not want a business that demands being at the plant at six in the morning.
The result is a pool of profitable companies, with loyal clients and no debt, at risk of closing not because they are doing badly but because nobody is there to run them.
58% of food-industry owners over 60 have no identified successor in the family. Source: investin.barcelona observatory, February 2026.
The three exits
Closing. The default exit and the worst one: goodwill is lost, staff are paid off and the buildings are sold at industrial-land prices.
Handing over to a manager or the staff. It works when there is a second-in-command able to manage and to raise financing. It is rarer than it looks: those who know how to produce do not always want to borrow.
Selling to a buyer who continues. A sector group, a fund with an industrial thesis or a family office buys the company as a going concern, keeps the staff and usually asks the owner to stay during the transition. It is the exit that preserves most value, and the one this guide covers.
What the market pays
The buyer pays a multiple of normalised EBITDA. That multiple depends on the subsector, the size, the signed contracts and how much the business depends on the owner. Owned real estate and concessions are added separately.
| Subsector | EV/EBITDA | EBITDA margin | Typical ticket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wine (appellation) | 6.0–8.5× | 14–22% | €3–30M |
| Sparkling wine | 6.5–9.0× | 15–24% | €10–60M |
| Olive oil mills | 5.0–7.0× | 9–15% | €2–12M |
| Cured meats | 5.5–7.5× | 16–24% | €2–15M |
Source: investin.barcelona observatory, closed transactions 2021–2025.
The process, step by step
Exclusive mandate and valuation by engineers (months 1–2). Anonymous memorandum and a short list of natural buyers (months 2–3). NDA, memorandum and first meetings (months 3–5). Visits outside the campaign and an indicative offer (months 5–6). Buyer due diligence and a binding offer (months 6–8). Signing before a notary (months 8–10).
At no point does the company name appear on a public listing. Only buyers who have signed the NDA know it.
The five costliest mistakes
- Waiting for sales to fall before selling.
- Telling the neighbour before the adviser.
- Mixing family and company assets in the accounts.
- Having no second-in-command who can sign orders.
- Pricing on what retirement needs rather than on what the company earns.