Frikom has a new owner

Frikom has a new owner

The frozen food business group consists of the companies Ledo plus LLC, Ledo Citluk and Frikom LLC, and several smaller affiliates.

It was announced that the value of the transaction is 615 million euros, on a basis without cash and without debts, and the acquisition conclusion is planned for the third quarter of 2021. In conclusion, Nomad Foods will become the owner of the Frozen Food Business Group, covering the leading European portfolio of iconic local frozen food brands, recognizable among consumers in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and several other Southeast European countries, Jutarnji list reported.

With more than 50 years of tradition, the Frozen Foods Business Group is the largest producer and distributor of ice cream and frozen foods in the markets they cover.

"This transaction is a transformational one for the Fortenova Group and all funds will be used to reduce the Group's debts and to create the Fortenova Group, which, after many years is financially strong and able to invest fully in all its activities," James Pearson, Chief CFO of Fortenova Group reported.

"By concluding this transaction, we will fulfill a key precondition for optimizing the capital structure, which will enable our investments in our businesses and encourage their future growth," said Fabris Perusko, CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Fortenova Group.

Completion of the transaction is pending regulatory approvals in the relevant markets and shareholders of Fortenova Group. The board of directors of Fortenova Group, including representatives of the largest shareholders unanimously supported the signing of the purchase agreement with Nomad Foods.

Nomad Foods, a company based in the British Virgin Islands, is the largest European and the third largest global player in the frozen food market.

The company is interesting since it has no ice cream in its portfolio at all, so with the acquisition of Ledo, in addition to taking a dominant role in the former Yugoslavia market, it gets its fingers on a very high-quality product that could monetize through its already established logistics chains in seven major European countries, where it holds a leading position in the frozen food segment, the paper writes.