Last checked at 25 May 2016 10:47
Associated British Foods plc
Acquisition of Illovo minority interest
For immediate release 25 May 2016
Further to the announcement on 8 April 2016, Associated British Foods plc ("ABF") today confirms that its proposal to move to full ownership of Illovo Sugar Limited ("Illovo") has received the requisite shareholder approvals in South Africa, at a shareholder General Meeting held on 25 May 2016.
The transaction is expected to complete on 28 June 2016 with shares in Illovo ceasing to trade on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange from that date.
For further enquiries please contact:
Associated British FoodsJohn Bason, Finance DirectorFlic Howard-Allen, Head of External AffairsTel: 020 7399 6500African media
Aprio
Julian Gwillim
Tel: +27 82 45 24 389
UK & other media
Citigate Dewe RogersonChris Barrie, Eleni MenikouTel: +44 20 7638 9571
Notes to editors:
1. ABF is a diversified international food, ingredients and retail group with sales of £12.8bn and 124,000 employees in 48 countries. It has significant businesses in Europe, southern Africa, the Americas, China and Australia. It aims to achieve strong, sustainable leadership positions in markets that offer potential for profitable growth, and deliver quality products and services that are central to people's lives. The group operates in five business segments: Sugar, Agriculture, Retail, Grocery and Ingredients.
2. AB Sugar, an operating division of ABF, is an industry leading group in the international markets for sugar and sugar derived co-products. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Spain, southern Africa and China with an annual processing capacity of some 5m tonnes of sugar and 600m litres of ethanol.
3. Illovo Sugar Limited is Africa's biggest sugar producer and has extensive agricultural and manufacturing operations in six African countries. The group produces raw and refined sugar for local, regional African and export markets from sugar cane supplied by its own agricultural operations and independent outgrowers who supply cane to Illovo's factories. High-value products, manufactured downstream of the sugar production process, are sold internationally into niche markets. Installed electricity generating capacity, fuelled by renewable resources, provides 90% of the group's energy requirements. For the year ending 31 March 2015, Illovo generated an operating profit of rand 1,655m (£77m) on sales of rand 13.3bn (£619m).