Kernel agro-holding has signed a binding agreement to sell the property of Chortkiv sugar plant (Ternopil region) and a participatory interest in the local sugar trading entity for a total consideration of up to $32.5 million, with deal closure subject to certain conditions, including clearance by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, reads a company report.
The company has not disclosed the name of the buyer.
As reported, referring to a source, Kernel is in talks with Pfeifer&Langen (Germany), a large European sugar producer, on the sale of its Chortkiv sugar plant.
Earlier Kernel decided to get out of the sugar business and sell its sugar refineries. In particular, Kernel owns Chortkiv sugar plant LLC, Tsukrove LLC (Kharkiv region), Palmirsky sugar refinery LLC (Cherkasy region), and Orzhytsky sugar refinery (Poltava region).
Kernel is a vertically integrated national company that has been working in the Ukrainian agricultural sector since 1994. It produces sugar, sunflower oil, distributes bottled oil under the Schedry Dar, Stozhar, and Chumak Zolota brands in Ukraine, exports oil and grain, and provides grain and oil crop storage services in elevators.
In H1, 2013 FY, Kernel saw $69.1 million in net profit, which is 25 percent down year-over-year. Its revenues over the period rose by 49.5 percent, to $1.47 billion.
Pfeifer&Langen is a large European producer of sugar. The company, in particular, owns sugar factories in Germany, Poland, Romania and Ukraine. In Ukraine, it owns Radekhiv sugar factory (Lviv region).
Chortkivsky sugar refinery in the first half of 2012 saw a net sales income of Hr 201.8 million and a net profit of Hr 45,000.
