August 07 (SeeNews) - U.S. investment fund SigmaBleyzer Southeast European Fund IV has acquired a majority stake in Romanian dairy producer Covalact for seven million euro ($9.7 million), a Bucharest-based daily reported on Tuesday.
The U.S. investment fund has bought 70% of Covalact, financial daily Ziarul Financiar quoted market sources as saying.
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Officials from both Covalact and SigmaBleyzer Southeast European Fund IV have confirmed the deal but declined to elaborate, the paper reported.
"We acquired the majority stake in Covalact because the dairy industry will have a sustained growth on the local [Romanian] market, and also because it's an industry that the fund is interested in," the fund's Romania country manager Radu Bugica was quoted as saying by the paper.
Covalact (www.covalact.ro ) holds a 2.0% share of the Romanian dairy market, which is expected to grow by 12% to 15% this year, exceeding one billion euro, Ziarul Financiar reported.
Covalact expects a 15% rise in turnover this year from last year's 15 million euro.
($ = 0.7245 euro)