Giant Dole buys Romanian distributor with 30m-euro turnover

Distrifrut, which posted 31 million euros in turnover in 2007, the largest fresh fruit importer on the Romanian market, has been taken over by its supplier, American producer Dole, with the transaction being approved on Tuesday by the Competition Council. Dole, the largest producer and distributor of fresh fruit worldwide, with around 7 billion dollars in annual sales, has now entered the Romanian market directly, by taking over its only local distributor. Distrifrut was set up in 1998, whose shareholders previous to this transaction were Lebanese holding Na-Plus SAL, with a 99.38% stake and Said Slim, a Romanian citizen of Lebanese origin, according to Trade Registry data. In 2007, Distrifrut reported an around 31 million-euro turnover and a 3 million-euro loss to the Ministry of Finance. The transaction was concluded via the European subsidiary of the fruit producer, Dole Europe. Distrifrut shareholders could not be contacted by the time this issue was ready for print.