PARIS — TMG, owner of Mecatherm, has acquired a majority stake in ABI Auto-Bake Industries Ltd., a manufacturer of industrial baking equipment. The acquisition was supported by French private equity firm Unigrains, TMG’s parent company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Based in Toronto and founded in 1989, ABI produces a range of automated equipment and production lines for bakeries around the globe. The company specializes in the manufacturing of bagel and pretzel equipment.

The transaction will strengthen the international presence of both Mecatherm and ABI and allow the equipment manufacturers to expand their product offerings.

“With TMG and Unigrains, we have found partners who share our values and our culture,” said Alex Kuperman, co-founder and chief executive officer, ABI. “Beyond furthering innovation and enriching our complementary product and service offering, this transaction will greatly benefit the teams of both companies through the sharing of expert know-how and best practices. It will enable ABI to more seamlessly serve large, global customers and offer mid-sized industrial bakeries a wide variety of manufactured solutions. We are delighted to enter this new phase of our development as part of TMG.”

Olivier Sergent, president of TMG and Mecatherm, noted how ABI would complement Mecatherm’s business.  

“ABI’s know-how for integrating robotic solutions in production lines, its leading position in bagels in North America and the reliability of its equipment — widely recognized by the market — convinced us,” Mr. Sergent said. “We are looking forward to this deeper collaboration with Mr. Kuperman and the ABI teams.”

Mecatherm is recognized for a wide range of capabilities, designing ovens and automated productions lines for bread, cakes and pastry producers across the globe.

Through this acquisition, Mecatherm and ABI now both offer Mecabagel, an end-to-end bagel line launched in September 2020.

“With complementary positions and several common projects this operation offers many advantages for the development of both Mecatherm and ABI,” said Jean François Laurain, CEO, Unigrains. “This acquisition is fully in line with our vision for the global industrial baking equipment industry, a strategic outlet for French agricultural productions.”