Invalda INVL - Notification on material event

Invalda INVL informs that Litagra group intends to transfer trading business to Achema Group

Vilnius, Lithuania, 2017-02-27 07:24 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 24 February 2017
Cedus Invest UAB, a company 100 per cent controlled by Invalda INVL, together
with other shareholders of Litagra UAB, initialled share purchase – sale
agreement with Achema Group regarding sale of Litagra group trading business
and grain elevators network, i.e.  Litagros Prekyba AB, with its Latvian
subsidiary Litagra SIA. Completion of the transaction is planned after
obtaining the approval of the Competition Council and carrying out other
actions foreseen in the agreement, including the reorganization of Litagra. 

Additional information:

Litagra, one of the Baltic region’s leading agribusiness groups, intends to
transfer its trading business and grain elevator network in Lithuania and
Latvia to Achema Group. The Litagra group, having decided to focus on
production activities, will continue to run its primary farming production
business – companies in Lithuania that cultivate more than 9,000 hectares of
land and the feed manufacturer Joniškio Grūdai. 

Litagra, the first company after state-owned Lietuvos Agrochemija to begin
trading western agrochemicals 25 years ago, is taking a strategic step,
Chairman of the Board and Founder Gintaras Kateiva said. 

“We’ve decided to relinquish the trading business with annual turnover of 138
million euros and some 250 employees to a strategic partner who can build the
most synergy in the Baltic market. The new arrangement will definitely change
the business map and create value not just for farmers, but also for suppliers
and employees,” Mr Kateiva said. 

“In line with the long-term strategy of the concern, we’re expanding operations
in one of our core areas – agricultural services business. Integration, after
the transaction, of Litagra’s trading operations into the group of companies
that the concern owns will strengthen the group company Agrochema which has
analogous activities, broaden its product range, and complete the supply chain
from the grain elevators to the Klaipeda port,” said Audrius Bendaravičius, the
CEO of Achema Group and Chairman of the Board of Agrochema. 

Achema Group intends to acquire Litagra group trading business and grain
elevators network, i.e.  Litagros Prekyba AB, with its Latvian subsidiary
Litagra SIA. The previous owners will retain the name “Litagra”, though the
acquired companies will be able to use it until 2019. 

An agreement to that effect between Achema Group and Litagra shareholders
Gintaras Kateiva, Invalda INVL group, the investment fund Amber Trust II and
others was initialled on 24 February. Completion of the transaction is planned
after obtaining the approval of the Competition Council and carrying out other
actions foreseen in the agreement, including the reorganization of Litagra. 

The final amount of the transaction depends on Litagra’s financial indicators
on the accounting date of the transaction and so will only be clear after the
transaction is completed. 

Litagra’s major shareholders –Gintaras Kateiva, the Invalda INVL group, and the
investment fund Amber Trust II– intend to continue strengthening the feed and
primary farming production businesses. 

Invalda INVL, one of the leading asset management companies, invested in
Litagra in 2011, acquiring a 36.9 per cent equity stake. 

“We think the funds we invested and our intellectual contribution have
strengthened the company and had a positive impact on the growth of Litagra’s
value. We’ve participated actively in preparing for the reorganization of the
Litagra group and the mutually beneficial transaction with Achema Group.
Litagra will continue to focus on production business where it can benefit from
competitive advantages as a participant in the global food supply chain,” said
Darius Šulnis, the President of Invalda INVL and a Member of the Board of
Litagra. 

According to Litagra CEO Aidas Mackevičius, the company is currently actively
considering expansion opportunities in the primary farming production and feed
businesses, including acquisitions. 

“We’ve begun the construction of a 5-million-euro value cattle complex in
Kalpokai. The decision on the investment was taken when dairy prices were at a
low. We are convinced that modern dairy production at the right scale in
Lithuania has good prospects and is globally competitive,” Mr Mackevičius said. 


         The person authorized to provide additional information is:
         Darius Sulnis, President of Invalda INVL
         E-mail: Darius.Sulnis@invl.com