“FOOD UNION” COMPANY “RĪGAS PIENA KOMBINĀTS” HAS A NEW SUPERVISORY BOARD

Latvia’s leading dairy processing and ice cream manufacturer “Food Union” for its main production facility in Latvia – “Rīgas piena kombināts” – has elected new supervisory board members. Soren Lauridsen, Executive Chairman of “Food Union” in Europe, will henceforth serve as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Lincoln Pan, a Partner and Co-Head of the alternative investment company “PAG Private Equity”, will now take the seat of a Board Member.

Harijs Panke will continue his work on the board as the Vice-Chairman. Along with these changes, the former Chairman of the Board and the previous global leader and Co-Owner of the company, Andrey Beskhmelnickiy, and Board Members Soto Miguel Castellanos, Edgars Pīgoznis, Ingrīda Blūma, and Jana Kraveca, are leaving the Supervisory Board of “Rīgas piena kombināts”. The changes in the board are related to the transaction that took place in January of this year, as a result of which “PAG Private Equity” became the majority shareholder of “Food Union” in Europe.

“The changes in the board reflect the changes in the group of companies in Europe after one of our previous investors, “PAG”, became the majority shareholder. Now that the deal has officially concluded and the necessary regulatory permissions have been obtained, a new, smaller Supervisory board has been elected. This change reflects the goal of achieving faster commercial growth and value generation for all involved parties. A simpler management and oversight structure at this stage of the group’s development is expected to ensure a coherent and result-oriented work according to current priorities,” notes Artūrs Čirjevskis, the CEO of “Food Union” in Europe.

As previously informed, “PAG Private Equity” is an active investor in the food industry, especially in frozen food. Recent transactions include the acquisition of two leading Australian companies in the food and consumer sector – Patties, a well known provider of savoury snack, appetiser, meal and dessert brands, and Vesco, a producer of high quality frozen foods in Australia and New Zealand. These acquisitions add to the existing “PAG” consumer product portfolio, which also includes retail franchises (Craveable Brands), chicken processing and production companies (The Cordina Group and Shandong Fengxiang Co. Ltd.) and dairy producers (Youran Dairy).