Bonduelle has agreed a deal to buy the Russian operations of fellow French food company CECAB.

An agreement was announced yesterday (19 January) following months of negotiations. The deal will see vegetable producer Bonduelle acquire the assets of French co-operative CECAB in Russia and in the countries of the Confederation of Independent States (CIS) for an undisclosed sum.

The transaction, which must be cleared by Russian competition authorities, will lead to Bonduelle acquiring the commercial assets of CECAB, such as the D’Aucy and Globus brands, a factory in Timachevsk, as well as a 6000-hectare ‘kolkhoze’, or co-operative. The deal is expected to completed in the first quarter of the year.

Bonduelle has had a presence in Russia and central and eastern European countries since the mid-1990s and has two factories in Hungary and one in Russia.