Deoleo Olive Oil Giant Faces Takeover Battle Between Italy and Spain

Deoleo, the world’s largest bottler of branded olive oil and owner of household names like Bertolli, Carapelli, Carbonell and Hojiblanca, is nearing a change of ownership as Italian and Spanish buyers compete for control of the company. Italian food group Pietro Coricelli has emerged as the leading bidder with an offer valuing Deoleo at about €500 million, ahead of Spanish rivals Dcoop and Acesur, whose bids came in at roughly €470 million and €460 million respectively. Bidding closed at the end of August 2026, and the company’s shareholders are expected to select a preferred buyer as talks move toward exclusive negotiations, with a possible agreement in September.

Why Spain Wants to Keep Deoleo at Home

Deoleo traces its roots to 1955, when it was founded in Bilbao, Spain, and is now headquartered in the Madrid region. The company bottles about 158 million liters of olive oil a year and held an estimated 8.3 percent of the global packaged olive oil market in 2025, well ahead of rivals like Bunge and Bright Food. Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has told local media it is closely following the sale, while Andalusia’s regional government and the CCOO Andalucía labor union have both urged authorities to keep the company under Spanish, and ideally Andalusian, ownership, even suggesting the government use its foreign investment powers if needed to protect jobs and the region’s olive oil supply chain.

A Company Back From the Brink

The bidding contest caps a turbulent decade for Deoleo. The company reported a €179 million loss in 2017 amid warnings it was close to collapse, which led to the sale of a bottling plant in Antequera, Spain, and a roughly 15 percent workforce reduction. Losses continued as recently as 2024, when Deoleo posted a €54.5 million loss tied partly to an Italian tax dispute involving its Carapelli subsidiary. The company returned to profitability in 2025, however, reporting net income of about €20 million as production normalized and consumption recovered. For buyers sourcing olive oil from Tunisia, this kind of consolidation among Europe’s largest branded bottlers is a reminder that working directly with Tunisian Olive Oil Trade and its network of origin suppliers can offer more visibility into quality and origin than relying on a blended, multi-country brand whose ownership itself is in flux.

FAQ

Who is buying Deoleo? Italian food company Pietro Coricelli has emerged as the leading bidder for Deoleo, the Spanish owner of the Bertolli, Carapelli, Carbonell and Hojiblanca brands, with an offer valuing the company at about €500 million, ahead of Spanish bidders Dcoop and Acesur.

Why is Deoleo being sold now? Deoleo’s principal shareholders, Alchemy Partners and CVC Capital Partners, who together control about 70 percent of the company, have been weighing an exit after years of restructuring and debt reduction, and after Deoleo returned to profitability in 2025 with roughly €20 million in net income.

Source: Olive Oil Times