Pambac in acquisition talks with several players

Pambac Bacau, one of the leading producers of pasta, intends to boost production both organically and through acquisitions. “We have been in talks with several local players that process cereals into finished and by-products, and would like the talks to end in an acquisition by the end of this year. I cannot provide any more details for the time being,” said Alin Giurea, the company’s general manager. The first major transactions on the local bakery and pasta market were seen last year, when local producers Arnos Oradea and Pangram Resita, as well as the local division of the Greek group Loulis, were acquired by Maspex Wadowice, Italian-based Foodco and Austrian-based LLI respectively. The only independent local producers in the top-ten are Pambac Bacau, European Drinks-Food and Pan Group Craiova. “We, in turn, were the target of offers, but we preferred to pursue an acquisition ourselves,” said Giurea. Pambac posted turnover worth 65 million RON (17.7 million euros) in the first four months of this year, up 45% on 2007, and profit worth around 4 million RON (over 1 million euros), 41% higher than in the first four months of last year.