News on Mergers and Acquisitions

Gardemoen, Norway: A new state-of-the-art processing line for classic and coated French
Fries, with inauguration in mid-2020, is planned by Ferskvarehuset AS in Norway. Design
and equipment will be sourced from Rosenqvists Food Technologies.

Lamb Weston has formed a joint venture with Sociedad Comercial del Plata in Argentina, to serve the nearly 2-billion-pound South American market. Each partner will own 50% of the joint venture, Lamb Weston Alimentos Modernos S.A..

Spudnik Equipment Company has reached an agreement to buy STC Trailers, according to a recent press release. Terms were not disclosed. Both companies are headquartered in Blackfoot, Idaho. The acquisition will go into effect Jan. 1, 2020.

VMG Partners, a private equity, beginning with the acquisition of the popchips™ brand in North America and most international markets outside of the United Kingdom and Europe.

Spud lovers are being given back a store in Norfolk after closing in August - after the business was rescued by potato giant firm Albert Bartlett.

BASF enters the market for natural flavors and fragrances (F&F) by acquiring Isobionics, a leader in biotechnology serving the global market for F&F and through a cooperation agreement with Conagen, a leader in biotechnology research.

Growers, suppliers, grubbing demonstrations - everything to do with potatoes. That is what the latest edition of Potato Europe was all about. This year, this trade show was held in Doornik/Tournai, Belgium on 4 and 5 September.

Campbell Soup Co. agreed to sell its European potato chips business to Valeo Foods Group Ltd. for about 66 million pounds ($80 million), the soupmaker’s latest divestment as it simplifies operations.

Swiss Bühler Group and Premier Tech from Canada, today announced the formation of a strategic cooperation for industrial flexible packaging solutions. Both companies agreed to build a design and manufacturing center in China.

NORPAC Foods, Inc., a grower-owned fruit and vegetable cooperative founded in 1924, announced that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Oregon Potato Company (OPC) under which OPC will acquire substantially all of the Company's assets.

The last potatoes were planted at the end of April at PotatoEurope’s demo site and until the end of May the participation demands continued to come in. With less than three weeks to go, time for an update!

Waterleau Group NV has successfully executed an important capital increase which secures the ambitious plans of the company for the future.

Highlander Partners, L.P., a leading middle-market private investment firm based in Dallas, Texas, through its newly-formed food platform, Benestar Brands ("Benestar"), announced the acquisition of Evans Food Group ("Evans") from Wind Point Partners.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) ("PepsiCo") today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire all the outstanding shares of Pioneer Foods Group Ltd.

On 10 May, a meeting was held between AuSPICA, members of the Tasmanian Certified Seed Potato Scheme (known as TasSeed) and invited industry representatives.

Philippine-based food company Universal Robina (URC) has announced the divestiture of a 40% stake in its Oceania subsidiary, URC Oceania, to the German snack food manufacturer Intersnack.

ILVO, HOGENT and TRIAS in Belgium are hosting a Peruvian delegation to the Food Pilot (ILVO, Melle, Belgium) to get the production of so-called “tuntas” (freeze dried potatoes) in a small cooperative factory in the Andes.

Givaudan, the global leader in flavours and fragrances, and Bühler, global leader for food processing solutions, have today announced a development partnership to accelerate market access for food start-ups in Switzerland.