US foods and beverages company Kraft Foods announced this week an agreement whereby pasta giant Barilla Alimentare S.p.A will acquire Kraft's Mexican pasta business, including the Yemina and Vesta brands.
"This acquisition is consistent with the strategic objective of the joint venture, and it is an important step to accelerate our growth. These two brands add 22 per cent in market share to the existing 5.5% of the Barilla brand in Mexico." said Guido Barilla, President of Barilla Group. "Now our Group will be the second largest pasta business in the Mexican market, representing excellent growth opportunities for our joint venture,"he continued.
"As we continue to focus on our core businesses, we determined that the Yemina and Vesta pasta brands are not well-aligned with this strategy. Barilla is better positioned to realise the full value of this business,"said Betsy D. Holden, Co-CEO, Kraft Foods, and President and CEO, Kraft Foods North America.
Yemina is a leading premium pasta brand in Mexico, and Vesta is a mainstream-priced brand. The sale includes the two trademarks and related manufacturing equipment. Kraft will continue to co-pack the product for Barilla at its La Victoria facility in Mexico City during a transition period.
The transaction is expected to be completed by January 2002. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.