Kraft completes acquisition of Groupe Danone's global biscuit business

Through the acquisition Kraft Egypt had added another plant to complement their 10th of Ramadan facilities. They have acquired Danone Mashreq for Fine Biscuits' Alexandria plant and their respective workforce to culminate in the company's current labor force of 1,500. The acquisition further accelerates Kraft's growth strategy by strengthening its lead in the company's fastest-growing global segment, and significantly expanding its presence and scale in both developed and emerging markets.

"Kraft is pleased to be growing its business in a country as pivotal as Egypt. Not only are the facilities an asset to our overall production, but the skill and spirit of Egyptian employees appears to us as inspiring and we can hardly wait to spread this level of commitment across our other regions of operation" commented Patrick Satamian, Vice President and Area Director Middle East and Africa.

For Kraft, Egypt presents its gateway to Africa and stands as among their most important countries within emerging markets. With 1,500 employees, L.E. 1 billion in investment, four companies, two factories and 25% of production going to exports, Egypt plays an ever growing part of Kraft's international success story. This acquisition brings such iconic brands as Tiger and Prince to the Kraft family.

"Kraft is now the world's leading biscuit company, with a strong portfolio of iconic brands," said Irene Rosenfeld, Kraft Chairman and CEO. "We'll use our enhanced scale, geographic reach and combined technologies to grow favorites like LU, Oreo and Ritz even faster around the world. This acquisition is part of our plan to create long-term shareholder value, and importantly, will be accretive to earnings per share in the first year."

The acquisition includes market-leading biscuit brands - such as LU, Tuc and Prince - and operations and assets in more than 20 countries, including 32 manufacturing facilities.

Georges Casala, formerly the head of Danone's biscuit business, will be joining Kraft as President, Kraft Biscuits Europe and will report directly to Kraft International President.

"I'm excited to be joining a company where biscuits is a global core business," said Casala. "There is tremendous potential to leverage growth synergies with Kraft by developing our combined brand 'jewels', by expanding to new territories and by extending our biscuits brands together with Kraft's other strong categories."