Enterprise Investors to buy 90% stake in Agros-Fortuna

Enterprise Investors Fund (EI) has received formal permission from the Interior and Administration Ministry for the purchase of a 90% stake in Agros-Fortuna (A-F), a producer of fruit juice. The first quarter of the year is expected to see a merger between A-F and Sonda, in which EI holds a 23% stake. The merged companies are intended to compete with Maspex, which may in turn wish to restart negotiations with the other main industry player, Hortex. A-F has undergone a series of restructuring processes which have changed the company's balance from an zl. 80 million loss in 2000 to a profit of almost zl. 1 million in 2001. Last year's results are still unknown. EI is a medium-term investor and as such can be expected to remain at A-F for between three and seven years. The final goal of the fund is to prepare the two juice producers for entry onto the Warsaw bourse. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B5) K.Z.