Norway approves Orkla's purchase of Rieber & Søn
The Norwegian Competition authority has approved Orkla's purchase of 90.11% of the shares in food fi…The Norwegian Competition authority has approved Orkla's purchase of 90.11% of the shares in food firm Rieber & Søn.
The acquisition is expected to be completed within a week.
The approval of the Norwegian competition authorities concludes the review of the agreement under competition law. The transaction has already received clearance from the EU Commission and the Russian competition authorities.
Orkla is purchasing the shares through its wholly-owned subsidiary Orkla Brands. Following the completion of the agreement, Orkla will make a mandatory offer to the remaining shareholders in Rieber & Søn based on the same purchase price per share that will be paid to the Rieber family.
In August 2012, Norwegian industrial conglomerate Orkla entered into an agreement with the Rieber family to acquire a 90.11% stake in food firm Rieber & Soen, in a deal that valued the company at NOK6.1bn ($1.04bn) on a debt-free basis.
The agreement is a part of Orkla's strategy to become a pure play branded consumer goods company.
Rieber & Søn, which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, supplies to grocery stores in Central Europe and Russia.
It owns Nordic condiment firm K-Salat, Norwegian food company Toro, Polish dessert brand Delecta, Russian nuts company Chaka, Czech food manufacturer Vitan, and Danish mustard brand Bähncke, among others.
