Atria pays 75 mln euros for Campomos in Russia

Guardian - UK

Reuters, Thursday July 31 2008

HELSINKI, July 31 (Reuters) - Finland's Atria has agreed to buy loss-making pigs-to-pizza group Campomos in Russia from Spanish Campofrio Alimentacion S.A. for 75 million euros ($116.9 million), it said on Thursday.

Campomos, which operates in the Moscow and St Petersburg regions had 2007 net sales of 75 million euros and staff of 1,000.

"The strong financial performance in the beginning of the millennium has shown a declining development and the company has been loss-making in recent years," Atria said.

Atria said Campomos' main products include meat products and pizzas, and it owns a pork breeding facility with 2,500 sows.

"The more than 17-million strong customer base in the Moscow region and the rapid growth of modern retail sales combined with the widely known, high-quality products of Campomos will help Atria establish a firm foothold in the steadily growing Moscow market," Atria said.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Louise Heavens)

guardian.co.uk

Campofrio To Sell Russian Unit To Finland's Atria For EUR75M

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

July 30, 2008 11:02 p.m.

Wall Steet Journal

Spanish food company Campofrio Alimentacion SA (CPF.MC) said early Thursday it has agreed to sell its Russian unit Campomos to Finland's Atria Oyj (ATRAV.HE) for EUR75 million.

In a filing to the Spanish market regulator, the company said the sale is still subject to the approval of Russian antitrust authorities.

Campomos is Russia's fifth largest company in the sector in terms of market share, and its sales represent 8% of the group's total revenue.

The sale will allow Campofrio to focus on its recently announced takeover of Groupe Smithfield Holdings, the European unit of Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD) of the U.S.

Company Web site: http://www.campofrio.es

-Enza Tedesco, Dow Jones Newswires

online.wsj.com