Enterprise Investors plan to merge Argos Fortuna with Sonda before floatation

On Friday foods and beverages producer Agros Holding informed the press that it had sold all of its shares in the second largest juice producer, Agros-Fortuna. American-based Enterprise Investors (EI) bought the 90% stake for zl. 110 million. Agros-Fortuna owns and produces well-known market brands such as juices, Fortuna, Karotka and Tarczyn, the popular Lowicz jams, as well as the Krakus food label. The sale of Agros-Fortuna is part of the restructuring process of Agros Holding, a foods giant which is in decline. Pernod Ricard, French owner of the holding since 2000, kept restructuring Agros by reduction the scale of its operations to focus on the most profitable activities of fruit and vegetable processing, juice production and alcohol distribution. The French concern now just wants to focus on alcohol distribution. The sale of Agros-Fortuna marks the near completion of a two-year restructuring program that cost tens of million of zlotys, and could represent a good opportunity for EI. The new investor plans to merge Agros Fortuna with another juice producer, Sonda and to enter the new company on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 24) M.T.