Bakkavör Group announced that it has reached formal agreement with Agrial, Société Cooperative Agricole et Agro-alimentaire, a leading European food co-operative for the sale of its French and Spanish produce businesses comprising Cinquième Saison Saint-Pol SAS, Cinquième Saison Mâcon SAS, Bakkavör France SAS, Crudi SAS and Sogesol SA for 33 million Euros debt free cash free. Completion of the transaction is subject to competition authority clearance, which is expected by the end of the first quarter of 2013.
Consultations with the Works Councils at all of the relevant sites have been completed and all employees of the businesses listed above will transfer over to Agrial with the operations.
Agust Gudmundsson, CEO, commented: “The sale of our French and Spanish businesses marks an important step in our strategy of reshaping our portfolio to focus on our core fresh prepared markets. The transaction will be beneficial from a leverage perspective and net proceeds will be used to reduce our term loan”.
