Frutarom Industries Ltd. (TASE: FRUT; LSE:FRUT; Pink Sheets:FRUTF) has made its first acquisition of 2012, acquiring 56% of Slovenian company Etol Tovarna arom in etericnih olj for €19.6 million and plans to make an offer to purchase for the remaining shares traded on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.
Etol, founded in 1924, develops, manufactures and markets taste solutions, focusing on natural flavor products for the food and beverage industry. It also develops and markets flavors and products based on local fruits, and plant bases for beverages. Frutarom plans to heavily invest in and greatly expand these activities. Etol has 240 employees, including in R&D and sales.
Etol's products are sold in Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, Hungary, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Customers include several multinational food companies.
Frutarom says that Etol should greatly increase its customer base and sales in emerging markets, and expand its products portfolio. It added that it intended to utilize Etol's development, sales and production capacity for the development of its business in the region.
Frutarom financed the acquisition with a short-term bank loan bearing LIBOR + 1.75% interest.
Frutarom's share price rose 0.8% in early trading on the TASE today to NIS 33.40, and will open at ₤7.80 in London, after closing at $8.50 on Nasdaq yesterday, giving a market cap of $491 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 17, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012