Roquette Acquires Stake in Amilina, Boosts Starch Position in Northern and Eastern Europe

Roquette and Amilina agreed on a sales and technical partnership to more effectively serve their customers in the paper, food and chemical industries located in northern and eastern Europe.

5/12/2011 --- Roquette, the number 2 player in the European starch industry, just announced its entrancy in the capital of Amilina AB, the largest starch manufacturer in Baltic and Nordic countries. Subject to approval by the European Competition Authorities, Roquette will take over an undisclosed value of investment shares in Amilina. Amilina AB will perform a capital increase, bringing Roquette's interest to slightly below 50%. The current chairman, Danas Tvarijonavicius, will keep his majority stake in Amilina.

Roquette and Amilina agreed on a sales and technical partnership to more effectively serve their customers in the paper, food and chemical industries located in northern and eastern Europe. It is the first French industrial investment in Lithuania.

Amilina is a wheat starch manufacturer based in Lithuania. The capacity of its 2007 plant is 220,000 tons of wheat per year and produces starch, gluten and wheat coproducts. The plant is located in Panevezys in the heart of a rapidly developing agricultural area with a large wheat surplus.

The two companies complement one another perfectly, and Roquette will become the exclusive distributor for the new products that will be developed cooperatively on the site. This boost to Amilina will enable the company not only to supply the local market, but also to develop exports to neighboring countries and thus provide outlets for Lithuanian wheat.

According to Danas Tvarijonavicius, Amilina AB Chairman, "Amilina has built good relations with paper and board manufacturers in Scandinavian and Northeastern Europe. The entry into the food market is the next strategic milestone for our company. Together, we see strong synergies between the many strengths Roquette can provide for us and the regional presence of Amilina. The new developments will be a good source of jobs, both for contractors during the set-up period and for permanent job positions in the new production facilities. Also, we see good potential for research cooperation, since the companies share a passion and a deep understanding of wheat, one of the most exciting crops. We have high expectations from this partnership."

Says Jean-Marc Willefert, V.P. Europe for Roquette: "Roquette is the second-largest starch producer in Europe. With this transaction, we are consolidating our foothold in the markets or northern and eastern Europe by taking on a producer with an extremely well located plant as our partner. We have found that the management of Amilina shares values similar to Roquette: passion for the job and commitment to achieve. I have no doubt that this will be a very productive partnership. We have identified growth projects in liquid sugar and industrial modified starch production, which we will be launching soon."

Amilina is the biggest manufacturer of starch in Scandinavian Europe and the Baltic region. The company processes Baltic wheat into valuable products for the paper, board and food industries. Amilina’s wheat starch plant in Panevezys, Lithuania is the newest facility in Europe. The company has the capacity to process about 220,000 tons of wheat per year and serves most of the multinational paper & board companies present in the Scandinavian countries, along with local and regional industrial customers. The half-year sales for fiscal 2010-2011 were approximately 40 million euros, with about 110,000 tons of wheat processed in 6 months into value-added products.

Roquette, one of the world leaders in biorefining, derives more than 700 products from 6.8 million tons of corn, wheat, peas and potatoes and adds value to more than 700,000 hectares of farmland. Roquette generates more than 2.5 billion euros in sales and has some 6,650 employees worldwide.