Final step in divesting consumer activities
· Barry Callebaut intends to sell its factory and the related business in Dijon (France) to "Chocolaterie de Bourgogne"
· Transaction includes a 5-year contract to supply Barry Callebaut with liquid chocolate
Zurich/Switzerland, September 21, 2012 - In line with the strategic decision to focus entirely on business-to-business, Barry Callebaut AG, the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, today announced its intention to sell its factory and the related business in Dijon (France) to "Chocolaterie de Bourgogne". With this, Barry Callebaut would conclude the final step to dispose of all its consumer activities. After the sale of Barry Callebaut's European Consumer Products business (Stollwerck) to the Belgian Baronie Group in 2011, the Dijon factory remained as the last consumer factory within the Group.
"Chocolaterie de Bourgogne" will be a business owned and managed by Philippe de Jarcy and his management team. They have long-standing business experience in the consumer chocolate industry.
In order to support the business under the new ownership, Barry Callebaut has agreed that "Chocolaterie de Bourgogne" will continue to provide 12,000 tonnes of liquid chocolate per year to Barry Callebaut under a 5-year supply contract.
The transaction will be executed upon completion of the information and consultation process with the works council.
As a result of this divestiture, Barry Callebaut expects to report a one-time loss from the discontinued operation of approximately CHF 65 million (EUR 54 million / USD 70 million) for fiscal year 2011/12, which includes the operating result of the discontinued operation, one-off impairments and other one-off expenses incurred in relation to the transaction.*
Juergen Steinemann, CEO of Barry Callebaut, said: "We are very pleased with "Chocolaterie de Bourgogne" as a new owner for our business in Dijon. Philippe de Jarcy and his team have a long-standing business experience in consumer chocolate products. With this transaction, we can now focus entirely on business-to-business."
* These figures are indicative and unaudited and will not affect the operating profit (EBIT) nor net profit from continuing operations of fiscal year 2011/12, but add to the net result from discontinued operations (Stollwerck) previously disclosed.
