STEFANO TOSELLI AND TER BEKE TO CREATE A JOINT VENTURE FOR LASAGNE AND PASTA MEALS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

Ter Beke and the shareholders of Stefano Toselli, both major players in the Western
European chilled lasagne markets, announce that they have signed on 30 September
2010 an agreement to investigate the creation of a joint venture. This joint venture is
to commercialise lasagne and pasta meals in Central and Eastern Europe.
French based Stefano Toselli and the Belgian Euronext listed Ter Beke announce that they
will investigate the opportunity to commercialise chilled lasagne and pasta meals jointly in
Central and Eastern Europe. The business plan may also comprise the construction of an
automated production plant in Central Europe exclusively dedicated to the Central and East
European markets. The completion of the study and the clearance of all conditions precedent
are scheduled for spring 2011.
The agreement anticipates the creation of a 50/50 joint venture between YHS Holdings
(“YHS”), the holding company controlling Stefano Toselli, and FreshMeals, Ter Beke’s ready
meals division. The joint venture agreement shall grant Ter Beke a call option both on YHS’s
share in the joint venture and on the shares of Stefano Toselli. The valuation formulas of the
call options, which are scheduled to be executed in 2018, are based on cash flow and
generally applied market multiples.
Doug Hamer, President of Stefano Toselli and of YHS, stresses the importance of this
transaction for the accelerated development of his company: “For long we are an important
player in the Western European chilled lasagne markets. We are convinced that the
consumer developments in Central and Eastern Europe create the environment for the roll
out of our price/quality concept into those markets. The co-operation with Ter Beke provides
us with the possibility to accelerate our growth ambitions shortly after our recent
management buy out”.
Marc Hofman, Managing Director of Ter Beke, is very pleased with this major breakthrough
for the ready meals division: “This joint venture means an accelerated implementation of our
geographical strategy for two of our core products: chilled lasagne and pasta meals. For a
decade we have been following the evolution in these emerging markets and we believe the
time is now right to move forward. I am convinced that joining the industrial competency of
Stefano Toselli with Ter Beke’s marketing and product development strengths will be very
effective”.

Source: http://www.terbeke.com - October 1, 2010

Danish Crown acquires German pig slaughterhouse

Danish Crown has signed a contract to acquire the German slaughterhouse D&S Fleisch. The agreement is, among other things, conditional upon approval by the competition authorities, but both parties expect this approval to be obtained shortly.

Slaughtering 3.5 million animals a year, D&S Fleisch is the fourth-biggest slaughterhouse in Germany, and with the acquisition Danish Crown is reaching another milestone in its plan DC Future.

- In recent years, the German market and the operating economies for German slaughterhouses have represented a significant challenge for Danish Crown. Therefore, as far back as 18 months ago we were already realising that we could achieve significant impact by being active in the German raw materials market, and now we have found the optimum solution, says Kjeld Johannesen, CEO of Danish Crown.

Germany is already an important market for Danish Crown, and a German slaughterhouse for German pigs will offer access to the market, which will benefit the entire group. With this acquisition, Danish Crown is gaining a presence in the German market and also strengthening its international sales.

- Today we have a successful business with fresh meat in Sweden, the UK and Poland, and Germany is the next obvious step. As in the other countries where we have slaughterhouse activities, the idea is to slaughter local, German pigs. This also means that the acquisition will not have any immediate impact on Danish workplaces, says Kjeld Johannesen.

D&S Fleisch is situated in Essen (Oldenburg) close to a number of Danish Crown’s other departments in northern Germany. In addition to the slaughterhouse facilities in Essen (Oldenburg), Danish Crown is also taking over D&S Fleisch’s other slaughtering unit in Cappeln. Danish Crown not only plans to continue operations in Essen, but expects to expand capacity and create more jobs in future.

So far, D&S Fleisch has been a privately owned company.
- We have for some time been looking for the right buyer for our slaughterhouse, and Danish Crown was chosen because, with their door to the global market, they are a good match for the business which D&S Fleisch has built up over the years, says Herbert Dreckmann, one of the owners of D&S Fleisch.

D&S Fleisch has seen strong growth in recent years. The slaughterhouse supplies the retail trade and the processing industry as well as export markets, and the pig deliveries are based on contracts which Danish Crown is taking over in conjunction with the acquisition.

Fleisch Krone Feinkost, the convenience business, is not included in the transaction but will still be managed by the existing owners.

Source: http://www.danishcrown.com - October 7, 2010