SLS would go to court over Polish sugar group

On July 18, Saint Louis Sucre (SLS), the French sugar company, said it would fight in court to force the Polish state treasury to sell it Poland's biggest sugar group, Slaska Spolka Cukrowa, under a deal signed last year, reports Reuters. The French sugar giant signed an initial agreement to buy Slaska last November, but the Polish treasury minister said on July 17 that the deal would not be sealed because Slaska would be included in a national sugar holding, Polish Sugar, which should be created soon under a bill drafted by the ruling AWS party. "Saint Louis Sucre will insist on finalising the transaction because it fulfilled all conditions of the agreement,"​ said Barbara Rocher, SLS representative in Poland. "We are not demanding a compensation now, we want to close the deal and we have already filed a motion to a court to secure Slaska shares,"​ she added. Treasury Minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska said Slaska's 16 sugar refineries would join 28 other firms that are certain to belong to Polish Sugar because SLS was unlikely to clear legal hurdles to finalise its Slaska deal before the end of August, when the sugar bill becomes law. Saint Louis Sucre, bought recently by Germany's Südzucker, had agreed to purchase Slaska last year for $59.73 million, but it could not finalise the deal after the interior ministry declined it the last necessary permit, citing mistakes in documentation. The French firm has appealed against the ministry's decision in court, which has already declared SLS submitted appropriate documents but has not announced its final ruling ahead of the July 18 deadline to close the deal. Slaska refineries, which produce some 300,000 tonnes of sugar per year, have been the object of the fiercest fight between advocates and opponents of Polish Sugar, which is to group all sugar refineries that have not been privatised. Supporters of the holding, who oppose the involvement of foreign capital in local industries, say Polish Sugar would bring huge profits, but industry analysts warn that the group would not have the money needed for a speedy modernisation. With 44 refineries, Polish Sugar would control the majority of Poland's sugar output, which amounts to around two million tons per year. The holding is ultimately to be 95 per cent owned by beet planters and employees of sugar firms.