Dawn Foods, Jackson, Michigan USA and Royal Cosun, Breda, the Netherlands have announced their intention for Dawn Foods to acquire the Unifine Food & Bake Ingredients business.
Unifine is one of the leading European specialists in developing, producing and supplying value-added pastry ingredients. This intended transaction includes all seven Unifine manufacturing sites, ten sales offices in Europe and the brands of Sucrea, Fruibel, Caullet and Dethmers.
Carrie Jones-Barber, CEO of Dawn Foods commented on Unifine Group’s excellent fit as a strategic product platform, its alignment with geographic market priorities, and the many talented Unifine team members, all of which are highly complementary to Dawn’s global foot print. “The deep commitment to customer service and product quality that Dawn and Unifine share will help ensure the continued success of both organizations,” said Carrie Jones-Barber.
Robert P. Smith, President & CEO of Royal Cosun adds: “We decided to divest our fine bakery operations as these do not fit in our core strategic focus which is on the processing of arable crops. Based on the strong growth over the past 10 years and attractive growth prospects, Cosun is confident that Unifine is now ready to take the next step in its evolution as a part of a strategic world player.”
Dawn Foods President of Global Commercial and International, Laurence Saul stated the intended acquisition provided significant benefits to both Dawn and Unifine. “This intended acquisition provides our team members, customers, joint venture partners and suppliers with global market access through the Dawn Foods family network.
We are confident that the intended sale of Unifine to Dawn will provide the business a new perspective by combining expertise and customer knowledge to enable long-term growth opportunities.”
The intended transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant competition authorities and completion of the consultation procedures with the relevant works councils and the trade unions in accordance with the SER Merger Code. Parties envisage that the transaction will be concluded in the second quarter of 2011.
Breda / Jackson, 30 March 2011
About Cosun
Royal Cosun is an international agri-industrial group firmly rooted in the primary sector. Its businesses produce ingredients and products that make their way to the food industry, foodservice sector and retail channels. In addition, the group is increasingly focusing on non-food applications.
Cosun's ambition is to get the most out of its raw materials: this is good for the environment, profitability and meets the social demand for responsible products and production methods.
Royal Cosun was established more than a 110 years ago by Dutch sugar beet growers who united themselves in a cooperative. Today, the cooperative has some 10,000 member/shareholders and has grown into a business with nearly 4,500 employees and a group turnover of about € 1.8 billion.
For further information, please visit www.cosun.com
About Dawn Foods
For more than 90 years, Dawn’s dedicated Team Members, outstanding products, and valued customers have made the Dawn name synonymous with excellence. Dawn is a United States based; family owned and operated global enterprise. Dawn currently supplies a complete line of quality, consistent mixes, bases, icings, glazes, fillings, frozen dough, par-baked and fully baked products and equipment to the food industry, worldwide. Dawn and its expansive global distribution network in the U.S. enable us to better serve our customers by leveraging our international service and support capabilities.
For further information, please visit www.dawnfoods.com
About Unifine Food & Bake Ingredients
Unifine F&Bi is one of the leading European specialists in developing, producing and supplying of value added pastry ingredients. Its product range embraces innovative and up-to-date concepts, which include pastry mixes and fillings, cream stabilisers and mousses, fruit fillings, glazes, chocolate, flavourings, fondants, ice cream ingredients, toppings and decorations. The factories are located in Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, France, the Netherlands and Romania. The added value pastry ingredients are sold to the artisan bakeries, the semi-industrial bakeries and the industrial customers. The most important brands are Sucrea, Fruibel,Caullet and Dethmers.
For further information, please visit www.unifine.com
Source: Dawn Food Products, Inc.