TOMSK, Jul 22 – RIA Tomsk. One
of the largest producers of confectionery products in Russia – Tomsk
holding KDV Group – has acquired the American production of fruit and
nut sweets Aplets & Cotlets; Tomsk company will continue to produce
sweets, but also intends to import more than 700 food items to the
United States, Forbes reported on Thursday.
It is
specified that the Russia's largest confectionery holding company, KDV
Group, owned by Forbes ranking member Denis Shtengelov, has acquired
Liberty Orchards, an American manufacturer of fruit and nut sweets
Aplets & Cotlets.
"The American company announced the
deal in late June on its Faсebook page. The announcement notes that the
company will continue full operations, retaining all employees. The
amount of the deal, its structure and parameters are not specified", – the
statement said.
It is noted that KDV Group for the first
time will enter the U.S. market, but in addition to continuing to
produce candy Liberty Orchards, will import into the U.S. more than 700
different food products.
It is added that Liberty Orchards
was founded in 1920 by Armenian immigrants Armen Tertsagyan and Mark
Balaban. The company originally made preserves of local fruits, but,
wanting to get rid of the excess of apples, started to produce sweets.
The company is run by the third generation of its founders. Liberty
Orchards sells less than 25 million dollars worth of candy a year.
It
is reported that the company announced its intention to sell the
business at the end of 2019. One reason cited is the deterioration of
the company's economy due to the coronavirus pandemic. But experts also
say one reason could be that younger family members have not shown
interest in continuing to work at Liberty Orchards.
According
to the SPARK-Interfax information and analysis system, OOO KDV Group
was registered in Tomsk in 2004. The company is part of the holding
structure of AO KDV and in its turn owns or co-founded three other
companies: OOO KDV Brand Rus in Tomsk, OOO KDV Agroholding in Moscow and
OAO Kemerovskiy Konditerskiy Kombinat ("Kemerovo Confectionery Plant").
Revenues
of KDV Group in 2020 amounted to almost 153.8 billion rubles. At the
same time, net profit quadrupled compared to 2019 to 3.4 billion.