Hilcona takes over Frostag in Landquart
20.01.2017, Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR
Hilcona, which is part of the Bell Group, is taking over Frostag in Landquart, a company specialising in the preparation of pasta and vegetarian products. With 118 employees, the company has annual sales of more than CHF 10 million. Frostag will be managed as an independent company under the umbrella of Hilcona. The employees and proven management team will be taken over.
With the acquisition of Frostag Food-Centrum AG (Frostag), Hilcona is further expanding its market position in pasta and vegetarian products. Frostag, with its registered office in Landquart in Graubünden, employs 118 people and posts annual sales of more than CHF 10 million. Frostag will be managed as an independent subsidiary of Hilcona AG. All the employees and the proven management team will be taken over. The company will be included in the consolidated financial statements of the Bell Group retroactively from 1 January 2017. The parties have agreed to keep the details of the transaction confidential.
Hilcona has been working closely with Frostag in the pasta and tofu product segment for many years and previously already owned 10 percent of the company's shares. Hilcona and Frostag joined forces in 2016 to produce tofu from Swiss organic soya beans. With the full takeover of the company, Hilcona specifically wants to accelerate the expansion of the range of vegetarian products. Plans are afoot to develop the Landquart site as a vegetarian centre of expertise.
The current managing director of Frostag, Christoph Caprez, can look back on a long pasta tradition. The company's roots go back to 1841 when Christoph's great-grandfather opened one of the first pasta factories in Switzerland. This company of great tradition specialises in small product ranges and currently produces pasta as well as a broad range of mostly vegetarian products. For Frostag, the takeover is the ideal succession solution and ensures the continuity of its business model in a growing market environment.
About Frostag
Frostag Food-Centrum AG is a dynamic production and service company specialising in fresh and frozen products. It produces pasta, ready-to-serve meals (convenience), sauces and tofu, with some of its products certified to be organic. The company delivers its products to the food processing industry, retail trade, system catering sector, cash-and-carry markets and wholesalers, among others.
About Bell
The Bell Group is one of the leading processors of meat and convenience products in Europe. Its range of products includes meat, poultry, charcuterie, seafood, convenience products and salads. With the brands Bell, Hilcona and Eisberg, the Group meets a diversity of customer needs. Its customers include the retail trade as well as the food service sector and food processing industry. Some 10,000 employees generate annual revenues of more than CHF 3 billion. Bell is listed on the Swiss stock exchange.
