Tereos Acquires Ludus Sugar Plant in Romania

The Ludus sugar refinery is located in Transylvania, one of Romania’s best regions for sugar beet production, sourcing supplies from 500 growers operating almost 5,000 hectares of sugar beet.

17 Oct 2012 --- The leading French sugar group and number four worldwide, Tereos is establishing a presence in Romania with its acquisition of the Ludus sugar refinery, which produces 34,000 tons of beet sugar per year.

The Ludus sugar refinery is located in Transylvania, one of Romania’s best regions for sugar beet production, sourcing supplies from 500 growers operating almost 5,000 hectares of sugar beet. From this foundation for development in Eastern Europe, Tereos will be able to accompany its industrial customers on a market where sugar consumption is expected to increase significantly over the coming years.

Convinced of the country's agricultural potential, the cooperative group Tereos will be working in partnership with the Romanian farmers to roll out the most efficient beet-growing practices.

As Alexis Duval, Tereos' Chief Executive Officer, explains: “Drawing on our agronomic and industrial expertise, as well as our presence in Central Europe for the past 20 years, we have definite assets that will contribute towards improved agricultural yields and the development of the Romanian sugar industry. With this investment, we now have a stronger position in one of the major European regions still importing large volumes of sugar”.

The company Roumaine de Sucrerie (Subsidiary of the Sucreries du Marquenterre Group), declared: “We have great confidence in the quality project mapped out for the Romanian sugar industry by the Tereos Group, with which we have been able to build up a longstanding relationship. We are delighted to see this step forward, since we first set up operations in 1998 in Transylvania”.

The operation remains subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities.