By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
ZAGREB (Reuters) - Croatian food producer and retailer Fortenova Grupa has decided to start exclusive talks with Nomad Foods on the sale of its frozen food business, it said in a statement on Monday.
“Due diligence process for the frozen food business, in which there were several parties involved, has ended by our acceptance to continue negotiations exclusively with Nomad Foods. I expect the signing of a sale agreement at the end of the first quarter,” said Fortenova’s CEO Fabris Perusko.
He said the whole transaction could then be completed during the summer.
Fortenova’s frozen food business includes Ledo Plus from Croatia, Ledo Citluk from Bosnia and Frikom from Serbia.
UK-based Nomad Foods is in exclusive negotiations to buy Balkans-based Fortenova Group s frozen-food portfolio.
The Birds Eye, Findus and Aunt Bessie s frozen-food owner said the prospective transaction is in line with its strategy of complementing strong organic growth in the base business with the acquisition of market-leading frozen-food brands across Europe .
Croatia s Fortenova, which emerged from the restructuring of the now defunct Agrokor, once the largest consumer goods business in the Balkans, confirmed it was putting its frozen-food assets on the block in November as part of plans to reduce debt and concentrate on growth in other areas.
The assets are made up of Ledo, Ledo Citluk and Frikom. Ledo is the largest manufacturer and distributor of ice cream and frozen food in Croatia while Ledo Citluk is a business based in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Frikom is a Serbian maker of ice cream and other frozen foods.