Germany’s BayWa AG has divested itself from Austrian potato processor Frisch & Frost in a move to get back to its core business of trading and logistics. The Munich-based agricultural trader sold its shares to Lamb Weston/Meijer, a Dutch food producer. Lamb Weston now owns 74% of Frisch & Frost but Austria’s Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG (RWA) and will have a blocking minority position. RWA is owned by BayWa. The deal must still gain regulatory approval before it can be completed.
Frisch & Frost (www.frisch-frost.at)
Frisch & Frost is an Austrian potato processor with more than 275 employees and operations in Hollabrunn and Vienna. The company purchases potatoes from 350 growers throughout southern Austria, primarily in the Marchfeld and Burgenland regions.
The annual 103,000 tonnes are processed and shipped to supermarkets, food packing companies, and restaurants in Austria, Germany, Italy, Greece, Switzerland and other Eastern European countries. For the last twenty-five years Frisch & Frost has been the exclusive potato provider for McDonald’s Austria. In addition to standard frozen potato products the company also produces specialty dumpling and strudel items.
2009 turnover for the company topped €68 million.
15/05/2010
Austria, Central & Eastern Europe, Exit, Food Industry and Beverages, Private Equity News