Sodiaal’s bid for French dairy peer Entremont Alliance appears to have moved closer to completion with a draft agreement between the two sides after months of talks.
In a statement, Sodiaal said “a new stage has been reached in the negotiations with Entremont Alliance’s shareholder, Unifem, with a view to the 100% acquisition of Entremont Alliance by Sodiaal”.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Sodiaal and Unifem’s shareholders have drawn up “a draft agreement on the terms and conditions of the [takeover] operation,” the company added.
However, the statement made no mention of a restructuring of Entremont’s debts, which in February 2010 stood at over EUR335.6m (US$409.3m).
Last month, a source close to the negotiations told just-food that failure to reach agreement with Entremont’s banks over the company’s debts continued to be a major obstacle.
Sodiaal wanted to have part of the debts wiped off and the remainder re-scheduled, the source said.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataReports in one regional newspaper yesterday claimed Entremont’s banks had agreed to transform EUR70m of debts into ten-year convertible bonds but this has not been confirmed.
When contacted by just-food, a source at Entremont declined to elaborate on the Sodiaal statement but did underline that it was “not yet a done deal.”
