EBRD buys euro 7.5 million stake in meat processor Sokolow

Shares in meat processor Zaklady Miesne Sokolow surged yesterday, after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced that it planned to spend euro 7.5 million on buying a stake in the company. The EBRD will acquire the shares of two Swedish investors, the Swedish Farmers' Association and Lantbrukarnas Ekonomi. Hans Christian Jacobsen, the EBRD official responsible for agricultural investments, stated that the bank strongly supports the restructuring of Sokolow, which is one of Poland's largest meat producers with 20% of the domestic market. Along with the stock purchase, the EBRD has granted Sokolow a euro 5 million loan to buy new machinery to support its international expansion. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B3; Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 10) A.K.