Re Disposal

RNS Number : 2424X

Associated British Foods PLC

11 August 2009

 



Associated British Foods plc

ABF announces the sale of its Polish sugar operations

For immediate release

Associated British Foods plc ('ABF') the international food, ingredients and retail group, has today announced that it has reached agreement to sell its Polish sugar business, British Sugar (Overseas) Polska SP. z.o.o. ('BSO Poland'), to Pfeifer & Langen Polska S.A. ('Pfeifer & Langen).  Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to occur in late 2009.

BSO Poland was formed in 1989 when British Sugar acquired an interest in two state-owned sugar factories.  The business has grown since then having operated as many as ten factories which have now been integrated into a single efficient manufacturing facility at Glinojeck.  Producing over 150,000 tonnes of sugar, BSO Poland is currently the fourth largest sugar producer in Poland.  BSO Poland's gross assets were £200m as at 31 August 2008.

In recent years, British Sugar has pursued a strategy of focusing on markets where it is able to build market-leading positions and obtain significant synergies from its global operations.  It acquired Azucarera Ebro, the leading sugar producer in Iberia, in April 2009. 

George Weston, Chief Executive of Associated British Foods, said: 

'We are extremely proud of the development of our Polish sugar business.  I would like to thank the employees for their hard work and wish them all the best for the future.

Our market-leading positions with British Sugar in the UK and Azucarera Ebro in Iberia combine to give us a strong presence in the rapidly-consolidating EU sugar market.'

For further enquiries please contact:
Associated British Foods
John Bason, Finance Director	Tel: [phone]
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Jonathan Clare, Chris Barrie, Hannah Dean	Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors

1.	Associated British Foods (www.abf.co.uk) is a diversified international food, ingredients and retail group with global sales of £8.2bn and 96,000 employees. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of £6.2bn. It operates in 44 countries with significant businesses outside Europe in southern Africa, the US,  China and Australia. Its aim is to achieve strong, sustainable positions in markets that offer potential for profitable growth. It strives to achieve this through a combination of growth of existing businesses, the acquisition of complementary new businesses and achievement of high levels of operating efficiency.
2.	British Sugar (www.britishsugargroup.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of ABF, is one of largest sugar producers in the world and has operations in the UK, Iberia, China and southern Africa. For the year ended 13 September 2008 revenue was £1.3bn, adjusted operating profit £153m and some 3.9 million tonnes of sugar was produced.  British Sugar is the sole processor of UK sugar beet crop (www.britishsugar.co.uk), processing seven million tonnes of sugar beet each year to produce over one million tonnes of sugar at its four factories. Its main customers are food and drink manufacturers in the UK and Europe and its retail brands are Silver Spoon and Billington's.  British Sugar is also currently building a world-scale bioethanol plant in the UK in partnership with BP and DuPont which will come into operation during the latter half of 2010 (www.vivergofuels.com). British Sugar entered the Chinese market (www.abfchina.com) in 1995 and now has five cane sugar factories with a processing capacity of some 600,000 tonnes of sugar annually. It has dramatically improved agricultural productivity, factory extraction and sugar yields and has developed a direct industrial customer base with its supply of European standard sugar. In 2007 it formed two new ventures in north-east China and in the current sugar campaign produced over 250,000 tonnes of sugar from 11 sugar beet factories. British Sugar acquired a 51% stake in Illovo Sugar in 2006. Illovo Sugar (www.illovosugar.com) is Africa's largest sugar producer with extensive agricultural and processing operations in six countries and it produced 1.8 million tonnes of sugar last year.  Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique have been designated Least Developed Countries by the European Commission. Sugar sourced from Illovo's operations in these countries will have tariff-free access to the EU from October 2009. British Sugar acquired Azucarera Ebro in April 2009. Azucarera Ebro (www.azucarera.es) is the leading sugar producer in Iberia supplying some 50% of the 1.6 million tonnes consumed. It offers a full range of products including speciality grades and liquid sugar to the industrial and retail sectors. Its retail brand Azucarera is the leading brand in Spain. In addition, Azucarera Ebro has a profitable co-products business that includes animal feed products and molasses. The business comprises four well-invested beet sugar factories, a state-of-the-art packaging centre and a new refinery which is currently under construction.
3.	With a beet quota of 151,000 tonnes of sugar, BSO Poland (www.bso.pl) is the fourth largest sugar producer in Poland servicing both industrial customers and the retail channel. It is currently building a cane sugar refinery adjacent to its Glinojeck facility which it expects to complete in 2010. The business also manufactures animal feed.
4.	More information regarding Pfeifer & Langen can be obtained at www.pfeifer-langen.de.

 

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