16 Sep 2010 12:22

Cherkizovo group acquires meat-processing complex in Kaliningrad region

MOSCOW. Sept 16 (Interfax) - The Cherkizovo meat and meat-products group has acquired the Kaliningrad-based meat-processing combine Otechestvenny Produkt for $4.1 million in a deal completed September 15, Chekizovo said in a statement.

The price tag in rubles comes to about 125 million, of which 73.6 million rubles will be paid in cash. The group is also taking on the company's debts, which at the time of purchase stood at 51.4 million rubles ($1.7 million). Cherkizovo plans to put some $2.5 million into re-profiling the outfit into focusing on producing smoked meat products, ham, and boiled sausages.

The complex is located in a free economic zone in the town of Pravdinsk that has customs preferences that make selling product with high added-value in the European part of Russia advantageous, the statement says.

Cherkizovo Group, which was formed in 2005, includes seven meat- processing companies in the Moscow region, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Belgorod and Rostov regions and Krasnodar territory, four hog complexes, two poultry farms and a feed plant. The company raised $251 million with an IPO in London in May 2006. The company is controlled by Igor Babaev and members of his family.