Finland's Raisio group has agreed to sell its Swedish ice cream unit Carlshamn Mejeri to the Ahus Glas company for an undisclosed sum.
The ice cream business had a turnover of around €15 million in 2001, but was considered a non-core business by Raisio, which wants to raise money to invest in its life sciences and ingredients units. The latter unit produces the cholesterol-cutting ingredient found in the Benecol range of food products.
Ahus Glas is part of the Finnish group Ingman Foods, which will substantially strengthen its business in Sweden as a result of the Carlshamn acquisition. The company produces a wide range of dairy products, including liquid milk products, ice cream and cheese, butter and milk powder. Its production facilities are based mainly in Finland, but it does have a subsidiary company in Lithuania - UAB Ingman Vega - specialising in ice cream.
Meanwhile, Raisio has also announced reorganisation plans designed to improve operating efficiency at the group. The company is to axe 26 jobs at its main administration operations, although 11 of these posts will involve the transfer of personnel elsewhere within the group.
The Raisio Group administration unit consists of financial administration, IT, HR and legal affairs, communication and investor relations, business development, purchasing and logistics as well as real estate and environmental services. The group said it would also continue to examine outsourcing options for certain administrative functions.