Alfa Unit Acquires Mexican Cheese Producers

27/11/07 Processed meats manufacturer Sigma Alimentos, a subsidiary of Mexican industrial company Alfa, has signed an agreement to acquire Mexican Cheese Producers.

"This acquisition is another step forward in our strategy of reinforcing the competitive position of our businesses in the key markets they serve," said Dionisio Garza Medina, Alfa's chairman and CEO. "It will also allow us to accelerate our penetration in the US Hispanic market."

Mexican Cheese Producers (MCP), which sells cheese and other products under the La Chona, Playero and Los Portales brands, operates a plant in Darlington, Wisconsin and owns distribution centers in Chicago, Illinois, Houston, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia, from where it markets its products in several areas of the US, particularly those with heavy concentrations of Hispanic populations.

The MCP acquisition reinforces our growth strategy in our target market, in which cheese plays a relevant role," said Mario Paez, Sigma's president. "We will increase MCP's presence in the regions it presently serves and gain additional market coverage by leveraging Sigma's distribution network and business relationships. We also expect to obtain synergies with the joint distribution of processed meats and cheese," he added.

MCP has a production capacity of around 10,000 tons per year.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.