Kalisz Ekko and Szczecin Augusto ice cream merger melts into problems

The merger between Poland's two largest ice-cream producers, Kalisz-based Augusto and Szczecin-based Ekko, has come to naught. Under one of the most crucial conditions of the merger Ekko was supposed to pay off all its debt, while Augusto already began production of Ekko ice-cream. "Our company has been prepared for larger production from the technological and marketing side and we limited the ice-cream offer in both brands so as to leave the most popular products. We decided to launch a licensed production of Ekko ice-creams to avoid the waste of all those preparations," said Augusto owner Ryszard August Tomaszek. He asserted that he will renew negotiations with Ekko this month. Ekko is still negotiating the terms of the debt pay-off with the firm's creditors. Rumors are circulating that the amount to be paid off is quite large; Ekko's new plant, which would be closed if the merger comes to fruition, cost zl. 50 million. Since the merger has yet to materialize, the two current leading ice-cream producers, Algida and Schoeller, will continue to have a stranglehold on the Polish market. (Puls Biznesu, p. 3) A.Z.