Mergers & Acquisitions & Joint Ventures - in the food industry - Brief Article

Eurofood, April 26, 2001

Mergers & Acquisitions & Joint Ventures

Buyer            Target                Country

Budelpack        Klockner Pentapack    Netherlands
International

Sodexho          Songeres/Wood         France/US
                 Dining

LDC              Guillot-Cobreda       France

Parmalat         Industria Lactea      Italy/Costa Rica
                 Tecnificada

Polar            Mavesa                Venezuela

MBO              Freshbake             UK/US

WWRE             Agribuys              US

Fleming          Supervalu             US

Convenience      Wolfking Group        Netherlands/
Food                                   Denmark
Systems

CSM              Socalbe               Netherlands/
                                       Italy

San Miguel       San Miguel            Philippines/
Corporation      Campocarne            Spain
                 Corporation

Carrefour        Ulysse Trading &      France/Tunisia
                 Industrial
                 Companies (UTIC)

Cielo e Campo    Ortobell              Italy/France

Smithfield       Moyer Packing         US
Foods

Woolworths       Franklins             Australia/Hong
                                       Kong

Enterprise       Zielona Budka         Poland
Investors

Schultz          Brodbeck              US
Acquisition      Enterprises
Corp

Babayevsky       Voronezh              Russia

Alliant          K&N Meats             US
Foodservice

Buyer            Remarks

Budelpack        Budelpack International has acquired Klockner
International    Pentapack. Budelpack provides packaging for many
                 food companies such as Kellogg, Nestle, Unilever,
                 Kraft and many others.

Sodexho          French caterer Sodexho has acquired compatriot
                 firm Sogeres and the US-based firm Wood Dining
                 in a deal worth 526m [European Dollar]. Songeres
                 generated sales of 284m [European Dollar] last year,
                 and Wood Dining generated 321m [European Dollar].

LDC              Chicken slaughter firm LCD has purchased an 85%
                 stake in Guillot-Cobreda.

Parmalat         Expanding its interests in Latin America further,
                 parent company Parmalat intends to buy 80% of
                 Costa Rican cheese producer Industria Lactea
                 Tecnificada, for a reported US$2m, according to
                 local newspaper La Nacion. The company sells
                 cheese, ice cream and other dairy products, except
                 milk under the Del Valle trademark.

Polar            Venezuelan snacks and beverage giant Empresas
                 Polar bought 98% shares of Mavesa, the country's
                 no. 1 food and consumer products manufacturer for
                 US$500m last month.

MBO              US pickle producer Vlasic has announced the sale
                 of UK firm Freshbake to a management buyout led
                 by Kelvyn Hale.

WWRE             Internet b2b exchange, the WorldWide Retail
                 Exchange, has announced a hook-up with Agribuys.
                 WWRE members will be able to source and
                 procure perishable goods through Agribuys
                 platform.

Fleming          US grocery wholesaler Fleming has agreed to buy
                 two distribution facilities from compatriot rival
                 wholesaler Supervalu.

Convenience      Dutch firm Convenience Food Systems has
Food             acquired the Wolfking Group from BHJ A/S.
Systems          Wolfking, based in Denmark, offers machines and
                 solutions for the preparation and marination of meat
                 and poultry products.

CSM              Dutch food CSM has announced it is to buy Italian
                 confectionery firm Socalbe in a deal worth 132m
                 [European Dollar]. Socalbe, the third largest firm on
                 the Italian confectionery market, has an annual
                 turnover of some 130m [European Dollar] and an
                 operating profit of 13m [European Dollar]. CSM
                 is paying for the acquisition in cash, and expects to
                 yield synergies of around 5m [European Dollar] within
                 two years.

San Miguel       San Miguel Corporation of the Philippines is to
Corporation      acquire the 50% stake owned by Spanish finn
                 Campofrio, in the joint venture the two firms formed.
                 San Miguel Campocarne Corporation will now be
                 100% owned by the Philippine conglomerate,
                 signalling the end of the Spanish meat company's
                 presence in Asia. Financial details of the deal were
                 not disclosed.

Carrefour        Carrefour of France has opened its first store in
                 the North African State of Tunisia. The joint ven-
                 ture with Tunisian outfit UTIC is the frost of its kind
                 in Tunisia. UTIC holds the majority stake in the joint
                 venture firm.

Cielo e Campo    Bonduelle, the French owners of Italian vegetable
                 firms Cielo e Campo and Ortobell, has confirmed it
                 is to merge the two Italian firms, thus becoming
                 the number one in the sector in Italy.

Smithfield       US meat company Smithfield Foods has signed an
Foods            agreement with Moyer Packing. Moyer is the ninth
                 largest beef processor in the US, and represents
                 Smithfield's first dabble into the beef sector. Moyer
                 has annual sales of US$600m (678m [European Dollar]).

Woolworths       Hong Kong-based firm Dairy Farm International
                 has said that it will sell Australian supermarket chain
                 Franklins to Woolworths as well as to a number of
                 smaller operators. DFI is planning to sell around 80
                 stores to rival firm Woolworths, and said it would
                 work with Metcash Trading, a smaller
                 supermarket retailer to sell around 120 stores to
                 independent grocers.

Enterprise       Polish firm Enterprise Investors plans to pay
Investors        P1Z20.5m (5.7m [European Dollar]) for the new issue of
                 shares in Zielona Budka, a major Polish ice cream
                 producer. Enterprise Investors has also made it clear
                 it will offer to purchase the 12.8% stake from French
                 investment firm Paribas Affaires Industrielles as
                 the Polish firms wants a 51% majority stake in its
                 compatriot ice cream maker.

Schultz          Schultz Sav-O Stores today announced that its
Acquisition      affiliate, Schultz Acquisition Corp has signed a
Corp             definitive purchase agreement to acquire Brodbeck
                 Enterprises, which operates Dick's Supermarkets.

Babayevsky       Confectionery concern Babayevsky, Russia's
                 leading producer of confectionery goods, has
                 wrapped up a purchase deal for a 75% plus one
                 share package in the Voronezh Confectionery
                 plant.

Alliant          US firm Alliant Foodservice, a subsidiary of Alliant
Foodservice      Exchange, has signed an agreement to acquire the
                 Seattle-based firm K&N Meats. The US meat firm
                 generates around US$100m (113m [European Dollar]).