Wessanen Postponing the Divestment of its US subsidiary ABC
In June, Wessanen announced that it had started the divestment process of its US subsidiary ABC. Fol…In June, Wessanen announced that it had started the divestment process of its US subsidiary ABC. Following a comprehensive process, which showed a good level of interest from strategic and financial parties alike, Wessanen has concluded that the bids received to date do not adequately reflect ABC's fundamental value. As a result, Wessanen has decided to postpone the sale of ABC until a later stage.
ABC has delivered very strong and profitable growth over 2010-2012. It also remains the clear market leader in an attractive and sustainable market. However, despite ABC's continued success, the uncertainties attached to its relatively short track record in the emerging ready-to-drink frozen pouch category appears to have held back interested parties' views on value.
In light of this and ABC's outlook for 2013, Wessanen is of the view that a postponement is the right course of action in order to realise better value for our shareholders at a later stage.
As a consequence, ABC will be again reported as 'continuing operations', reversing its reporting as 'discontinued operations'. We expect to recognise an additional deferred tax asset in the fourth quarter as a result of the available tax losses carried forward.
