Campofrio Food Group negotiates takeover of local producer

The group presently operates in Romania through three companies: Smithfield, Campofrio and Agroalim.

Campofrio Food Group owns a cold meat factory in southeastern Romania, with a production capacity of 10,000-11,000 tons per day, but this can remain operational only until 2010. The group is now considering alternative options to continue production in Romania. One possibility is to acquire a local company with a production capacity at least similar to the current one and which could further expand production, or to build a factory in the town of Buftea, north of Bucharest.

More details on the issue could be available on May 14, when the group’s Board of Directors is scheduled to meet.

There have been rumors of a possible takeover on the market before. Local producer Cris-Tim and the local subsidiary of the German Reinert group were allegedly acquisition targets.

Campofrio has been operating in Romania since 1998. Last year, it posted some €34 million in business. The local cold meats market is worth some €1 billion with Cris-Tim, Aldis Calarasi, Campofrio, Caroli, Unicarm Satu-Mare, and Angst as main players.

Campofrio Food Group is European leader in the meat processing industry, following its takeover of U.S. producer Smithfield’s European branch.