Although PinguinLutosa has not declared who the buyer is of their Lutosa potato processing division, the Belgian Media have made their mind up:
Lamb Weston will buy Lutosa.
Belgian Newspaper De Standaard offered Friday Sept 7 the following headline:
"Americans buy Lutosa, Lamb Weston behind Golden Bid "
Referring to "De Standaard", but adding even more details Flanders Today writes:
PinguinLutosa, producer of deep-frozen vegetables and potato products, received three offers on its Lutosa potato division: one from the Canadian McCain, one from the Dutch Aviko and one from the American LambWeston, supplier to McDonald’s. In the end the bid was won by LambWeston, a subdivision of ConaGra Foods.
Hein Deprez, CEO and major shareholder in the West Flemish company, can look forward to a healthy bonus after the Americans paid a whopping 225 million euros for Lutosa. In a separate deal he also sold some real estate, which he split up for 45 million euros in 2007. The sale price is not known. “The real estate is in a non-listed company, so we do not need to reveal the price, but we are happy,” Deprez said yesterday. The total value of the deal, which is presumed to still go through this year, is estimated at about 300 million euros.
Lutosa is a manufacturer of frozen and chilled french fries, several potato specialties as well as potato flakes.
Update October 19, 2012: It turns out McCain Foods is the buyer of the potato division of PinguinLutosa. Click to read more....
