Kernel wants to buy Russian sunoil company
2011-03-09 16:38:10
Ukraine's largest sunflower oil producer, Kernel Group of Companies, announced plans to purchase a Russian company, Kernel's Investor Relations and Business Development Director Patrick Conrad has said.
"We are close to acquiring assets in Russia. The deal could be completed in the first half of the year ... The Russian market is interesting for us because of its size and lack of large international players. We want to get a strong position in Russia and take part in the consolidation of the industry," Conrad said.
In his words, the Russian acquisition for Kernel will be cheaper than last year's purchase of Allseeds (approximately USD 70 million).
In addition, the immediate plans of Kernel also include the acquisition of a port in Ukraine at about USD 130 million, in addition to existing terminals in Mykolaiv and Ilichivsk.
"The money for this transaction will come from own resources and partly from a loan," Conrad said.
Kernel Group of Companies is Ukraine's largest agricultural company with a vertically integrated corporate structure, a leader in the Ukraine's bottled sunflower oil and oil export market, one of the country's largest grain exporters.