Murfatlar shareholders have taken a further step towards the expansion of their businesses by acquiring the controlling interests in processed meats producer Principal Construct Prahova, a family-run business that was developed by local entrepreneur Claudiu Ciuciureanu.
Food industry sources put the total value of the transaction at 10 million euros, though this also includes the company debts. Ciuciureanu will remain part of the business, but will retain only a minority stake.
Murfatlar officials chose not to comment on the deal and Ciuciureanu could not be contacted. Murfatlar is part of Euro Group, which is owned by a group of low-profile Romanian investors, including George Ivanescu and Ion Dobronauteanu.
Principal Construct owns two processed meat facilities: one in Filipestii de Padure (Prahova), and one in Salonta (Bihor). Sources claim that Principal Construct is in a "difficult" position cash-wise, due to having large debts. According to Finance Ministry data, the company posted a 10.5 million euro turnover in 2003, with 40,000 euros in net profits and a total debt level of 10.5 million euros, which, sources say, rose slightly last year.
"Principal Construct''s main shareholder is not doing very well, financially speaking. Maybe Murfatlar really wanted to enter the processed meats market, and on this I can only congratulate them, or maybe it was a veiled acquisition by a much larger player on the market," said Sorin Minea, chairman of the Romanian Meat Association (ARC), an organisation including the main players on the market. A number of market players were targeted by takeover bids at the end of last year coming from various companies including Reinert (Germany), Zwanenberg (Holland) and Nikas (Greece). None of these bids materialised as transactions, however, leading Reinert to build its own production facility and embark on an aggressive recruitment campaign, which saw it approach managers from the main market players.
Principal Construction had already been mentioned a number of times in connection with possible takeovers, for example by Zwanenberg and Smithfield (US), though at the time the plans to sell the business were denied by Ciuciureanu.
The Romanian processed meats market has reached more than 300 million euros a year and is dominated by family-run businesses: Cris-Tim Bucharest, Aldis Calarasi, Angst Ro and Caroli. The only international producer that has managed to work its way onto the market is Tabco-Campofrio, which is owned by Spanish company Campofrio Alimentacion. Smithfield, the world''s leading pork producer, owns a stake of 22% in Campofrio Alimentacion. Smithfield made big purchases on the Romanian market this year and last.
Murfatlar''s shareholders have been very busy on the acquisitions market in the last year, buying the production facilities of Sped Productie SRL Bucharest and its vodka brands, Sankt Petersburg and Patriot, as well as the controlling interests in Biborteni mineral water maker Contransimex. stelian.negrea2zf.ro
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
