Apetit to divest its fresh cut products business operations

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Apetit Plc, Insider information, 10 July 2019 at 10:30 a.m.

Apetit Plc has signed an agreement on selling its fresh cut products business operations to the Swedish company Greenfood AB. Greenfood AB is an importer, distributor and processor of fruit and vegetables as well as a leading healthy fresh food actor that operates in the Nordic countries and Western Europe. In Finland, Greenfood AB owns Salico Oy, Satotukku Oy, Picadeli Oy and Snackpoint Oy. Salico is one of the leading Finnish suppliers of fresh cut fruit and vegetable products to food service, retail and fast food chains.

The arrangement will be carried out as a business transfer that covers Apetit’s plant property in Kivikko in Helsinki, including machinery and equipment. The employees of Apetit’s fresh cut products business operations will transfer to Salico Oy, Greenfood AB’s Finnish subsidiary, as existing employees. The parties are not disclosing the transaction price.

Apetit will recognise a non-recurring sales gain of around EUR 2 million after taxes for the corporate transaction in the second half of 2019. More detailed information will be available once the arrangement has been completed. Apetit’s net sales from fresh cut products business operations totalled EUR 23.2 million in 2018 and it has 120 employees.

Apetit will report its fresh cut products business operations under discontinued operations in its half-year financial report on 16 August 2019. The corporate transaction is expected to have a positive effect on Apetit’s full-year operational EBIT.

Juha Vanhainen, CEO of Apetit Plc:

“Apetit has recently made significant investments in improving the efficiency and, consequently, the profitability of its fresh cut products business operations. However, there is considerable competition in the fresh cut products market in Finland, and we have been unable to make these business operations profitable sufficiently quickly. Due to this, we have decided to sell our fresh cut products business operations to a strong international operator with the capacity to further develop these operations on a larger scale. The transaction is expected to improve Apetit’s profitability.”

David von Laskowski, CEO, Greenfood AB:

“The acquisition of Apetit’s fresh cut products business operations offers us an opportunity to grow in Finland. We believe that, combined with our international expertise, this business transfer will create significant added value for the fresh cut products business operations, as well as strengthening their cost-competitiveness in particular.”

In order to be completed, the transaction requires the approval of the competition authorities. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2019.

Apetit Plc

For more information, please contact:

Juha Vanhainen, CEO, Apetit Plc, tel. +358 10 402 2100

David von Laskowski, CEO, Greenfood, tel. +46 70 290 63 13

Apetit is number one in vegetables. It is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. We create well-being with vegetables by offering healthy and tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feeding stuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit seeks to lead the way in vegetable-based food solutions. Apetit Plc's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2018, the company's net sales were EUR 283 million. Read more at apetit.fi.

About Greenfood Ab
We just love healthy food. Making it tastier. Easier. Better. And more accessible. Passion is what’s made us at Greenfood one of the Nordic region’s leading groups in healthy food, with a history that stretches back 50 years. In 2018 our sales totalled approx. SEK 4.7 billion, and we have just over 1,300 employees. We pursue a broad range of activities, and with our four business areas we cater for the entire grocery chain – from growing, processing and delivery to the moment the consumer puts the fork in their mouth. Greenfood’s business areas are: Picadeli, Food Solutions, Fresh Cut and Fresh Produce. The Group’s brands include: Picadeli, Green Deli, Wrapson, Daily Greens, SallaCarte. Read more at www.greenfood.se.

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