SOS Sells Rice Division to Ebro Foods

This will give Ebro a stake of approximately 10% in the increased capital and permit Antonio Hernández, Chairman of Ebro, and Demetrio Carceller, Director of Ebro, to join the SOS board.

26 Nov 2010 --- The boards of Ebro and SOS Group have reached an agreement for Ebro to purchase the SOS rice division for 195 million euro. The deal will be finally closed once approved by the financial institutions that are creditors of SOS and the anti-trust authorities.

The SOS rice business complements the presence of the Ebro rice division in Spain and the USA, opens the doors to the Netherlands market and strengthens its position on other European markets and in the Middle East. With a turnover of 250 million euro in 2009 and an operating margin (EBITDA before overheads) of 30 million euro, it has leading brands such as SOS, Lassie, Blue Ribbon and Abu Bint and strong market positions in Spain, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and certain markets in the USA.

The Ebro board has also resolved to subscribe to the capital increase in SOS, commencing last Tuesday, 23 November, in a sum of 50 million euro. This will give Ebro a stake of approximately 10% in the increased capital and permit Antonio Hernández, Chairman of Ebro, and Demetrio Carceller, Director of Ebro, to join the SOS board.

In the opinion of Antonio Hernández Callejas: "This is a wonderful opportunity to acquire an interest in a company which, apart from being world leader in its sector, operates in markets with enormous growth prospects. We believe the SOS Group has potential to further improve its productivity and efficiency, continuing the trend it has followed in recent months, despite operating within a restrictive financial framework and in a generally adverse economic context."