The press conference was attended by: 

On behalf of Hamé, a.s. - Leoš Novotný (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hamé, a.s.), Martin Jagoš (General Director of Hamé, a.s.), and Stanislav Knotek (Legal Counsel of the Hamé group),

On behalf of Nordic Partners - Gunnar Leo Gunnarsson (General Director of Nordic Partners and the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hamé, a.s.) and Daumants Vitols (Member of The Board of Directors and co-founder of Nordic Partners).

(foto: from the left: Leoš Nototný, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hamé, a.s. and Gunnar Leo Gunnarsson, General Director of Nordic Partners)

At the press conference it was announced that Hamé would be acquired by the reputable international company Nordic Partners. Leoš Novotný (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hamé, a.s.) and Gunnar Leo Gunnarsson (General Director of Nordic Partners) confirmed the acquisition. As a result of this concentration, Hamé will become a significant part of Nordic Partners. The production of Hamé until now has amounted to over 100 thousand tons of products. As a result of the acquisition, the production of the Nordic Partners group will increase to 170 thousand tons of food products and to 100 million litres of drinks. The consolidated revenues of the new food and drinks group for the current year are estimated to reach EUR 400 million, combined results for 2007 exceeded EUR 300 million.

The existing majority shareholder and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hamé, a.s. Leoš Novotný remains in the company as a minority shareholder. Leoš Novotný makes the following comment: Hamé was an object of interest already in 2000 when Hamé of made an acquisition of OTMA company. The interest culminated in 2006 and out of 44 potential buyers, it was the NORDIC PARTNERS who gained the "rich bride". I think this is the right impulse for Hamé to get into the "1. league" of food companies in Europe.

Gunnar Leo Gunnarsson, General Director of the Nordic Partners group informs as follows:

"Hamé is a welcomed addition to the investment portfolio of Nordic Partners. Hamé is the largest acquisition of the company so far and will play a key role in our food strategy. The financial strength of the food section is significant and we expect to continue to strengthen and grow on food business in the Baltics and Central and Eastern European markets".

Information about Nordic Partners:

Nordic Partners is an Icelandic investment company that focuses on food and drinks industry, developments and operations of real estate projects, as well as retail, aviation and hotel business. An example of such investment project is the five star luxury hotel in Copenhagen D´Angleterre, rated among the best hotels in the world. The overall value of the Nordic Partners group exceeds EUR 1.1 billion. The headquarters of the group are in Reykjavik, but a significant part of operations is also handled from Riga and Copenhagen. Nordic Partners has four shareholders, namely Gisli Reynisson, who is the Chairman of the group, Jon Thor Hjaltason, Bjarni Gunnarsson, and Daumants Vitols.

Nordic Partners owns and operates confectionary, food and drinks plants in Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. Nordic Partners portfolio includes well recognized companies in the area: Laima, Staburadze, Gutta, Lider Artur, Margiris, and Eurofood.

As a result, the new food and drinks group will run operations in 11 countries and have 16 production plants, with production activities in the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Russia. These countries represent the most significant markets for the food and drinks business of the company, including Slovakia where the company has a significant market share in many market segments. In addition, the group has a modern and sophisticated distribution centre in the Czech Republic. The overall own storage capacity exceeds 150 thousand Euro palettes.