Lotus Bakeries: acquires Dinosaurus brand

Lembeke / BE. (lbbv) Lotus Bakeries Group and Grupo Nutrexpa have made a successful joint bid for Galletas Artiach S.A.U. (Panrico). Nutrexpa will take over the shares of this Spanish biscuit manufacturer and Lotus Bakeries will acquire the intellectual property rights to the Dinosaurus children´s concept outside Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and Mexico. The transactions are conditional upon clearance from the antitrust authorities.

Since the end of June 2008 Dinosaurus has been successfully marketed by a third party brand manufacturer in Belgium and France under licence from Artiach. Sales (at consumer prices) in these two countries together are currently around 18 million EUR. The licence agreement between this third party brand manufacturer and Artiach runs until end-June 2013. Thereafter the Dinosaurus concept will be marketed under the Lotus brand.

This purchase will serve to strengthen Lotus Bakeries position in its Belgian and French home markets. Dinosaurus is currently, after the Lotus Frangipane, the best rotating biscuit in Belgium in number of units sold. This makes it the best-selling biscuit concept aimed specifically at children.

Lotus Bakeries has purchased the intellectual property rights to the Dinosaurus brand, giving it the possibility to further expand and internationalise the concept. The Dinosaurus brand is already protected in several relevant markets and countries.

This acquisition fits perfectly into Lotus Bakeries brand policy based on products that are distinctive in terms of quality and customer satisfaction. The transaction only relates to the intellectual property rights and no staff or production are being taken over. This will ensure a very smooth integration into the existing Belgian and French sales organizations.

Since Lotus Bakeries chooses to produce its products itself, in order to ensure quality and competitive cost, a study has already been undertaken to determine how Dinosaurus biscuits can be produced in Lembeke. This will require approximately 8,0 million EUR of additional investment. The new production line is expected to be operational by mid-2013.