17.02.2006
Vaasan & Vaasan Group to become a major producer of bake-off products in the Nordic countries

The Vaasan & Vaasan Group has acquired the entire portfolio of Swedish bake-off producer Nordic Bake Off AB from Accent Equity in a deal signed on 16 February 2006. With the deal, the Vaasan & Vaasan Group has grown to become a major player on the Nordic bake-off market.

Nordic Bake Off AB is Sweden’s second-largest bake-off products producer, with an approximately 13% market share. The company’s main market is in Sweden, but it does export its products to other Nordic countries. In 2005 the company had a turnover of EUR 34.7 million and employed a staff of just over 100. The Nordic Bake Off AB production facility is located in Fagersta. The company is also a joint owner of Gotlandsbrödet AB, which produces bake-off products, among others. The two parties are not releasing the value of the deal.

The Vaasan & Vaasan Group has a majority shareholding in Swedish Delice Scandinavica AB, which operates on the Swedish market and specialises in the sale and distribution of bake-off products. As part of the deal, the Vaasan & Vaasan Group will also redeem the minority shareholding of Delice Scandinavica AB from the company’s acting management.

The two deals will make the Vaasan & Vaasan Group a bake-off business unit, which consists of Nordic Bake Off AB, Delice Scandinavica AB and the Vaasan & Vaasan Group Joutseno bake-off production facility in Finland. The new business unit will become a major operator on the Finnish and Swedish bake-off markets. The estimated turnover for the business unit this year is approximately EUR 70 million and some 200 employees are on staff.

- The Swedish bake-off market has had an annual growth of approximately 6%, and there’s no sign of that growth slowing down. This deal has given us an excellent opportunity to develop our bake-off business and strengthen our market position in Sweden and the other Nordic countries, explains Matti Lappalainen, CEO of Vaasan & Vaasan Group.

Further information:

Vaasan & Vaasan Group
Matti Lappalainen
CEO
tel: +358 (0)204 462001
matti.lappalainen@vaasan.com

Nordic Bake Off AB
Bernt Lindberg
CEO
tel. +46 (0)8 6193401
bernt.lindberg@nordicbakeoff.se


Vaasan & Vaasan Group is the largest bakery business in Finland and the Baltic region, the second largest crisp bread producer in the world and a significant Nordic producer of bake-off products. FINN CRISP crisp breads and thin crisps produced in Finland are exported to some 40 countries around the world. The company's major export markets are the Nordic countries, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Benelux region and North America.

The Vaasan & Vaasan Group includes Vaasan & Vaasan Oy in Finland, AS Leibur in Estonia, A/S Hanzas Maiznicas in Latvia, UAB Vilniaus Duona in Lithuania and Nordic Bake Off AB and Delice Scandinavica AB in Sweden. The Group’s turnover for 2004 was EUR 287 million, generated by approximately 3,700 employees.

www.vaasan.com