One of the founders of Mexican multinational baker Grupo Bimbo died Friday in this capital, the company said. He was 98.

The group, the world's largest multinational baking company, expressed sadness over the death of Lorenzo Servitje, a Mexico City native who was the son of an immigrant from the Spanish region of Catalonia.

The American branch of the group, Bimbo Bakeries USA, is headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania, and owns six of the top twelve fresh bread brands in the United States, including Entenmann's, Sara Lee, and Thomas'.It is also a top advertising sponsor for many major soccer teams around the globe, including the Philadelphia Union. 

In 2016, Forbes magazine ranked Grupo Bimbo at #986 on the Forbes Global 2000, an annual ranking of the top 2,000 public companies in the world.[8]

"It is with a great sense of sadness and profound gratitude for the legacy that he has left that Grupo Bimbo would like to communicate the passing of Don Lorenzo Servitje Sendra, one of the company's founders, who passed away today, in Mexico City, at the age of 98," the statement read.

"On behalf of the entire group, we would like to express our deepest condolences to his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, family and friends."

 Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto also lamented Servitje's death in a Twitter post and expressed sympathy for his family, friends and all those at Grupo Bimbo.

"With vision, values and commitment to his country, Don Lorenzo founded Grupo Bimbo and transformed it into a world-class Mexican company," Peña Nieto said.

With vision, values and commitment to his country, Don Lorenzo founded Grupo Bimbo and transformed it into a world-class Mexican company.

The president of the Employers Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex), Gustavo de Hoyos, said on that same microblogging site that the business leader had left an indelible mark on his organization.

"I express my condolences to the Servitje family for the death of Don Lorenzo Servitje," De Hoyos said.

As a teenager, Servitje worked in his spare time at his father's bakery, known as El Molino, and ran the business from 1937 - following his father's unexpected death - until 1945.

He also studied accounting at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

In 1945, he co-founded the baked goods maker - originally known as Panificacion Bimbo - along with Jaime Jorba, Jaime Sendra, Alfonso Velasco and Jose T. Mata.

Grupo Bimbo currently markets over 10,000 products, including a variety of sandwich breads, buns and toasted breads, under more than 100 brands.