The Global Green Company Limited, the foods division of the US$ 3 bn Avantha Group, today announced the completion of the acquisition of Hungarian company Puszta Konzerv Kft. Based in Balmazujvaros, near Debrecen in Eastern Hungary, Puszta Konzerv manufactures sweet corn, peas, gherkins, mixed pickles, lecsó and tomatoes.

Mr. Gautam Thapar, Chairman & CEO, Avantha Group said, “Avantha is on a path to significantly scale up emerging businesses, and we foresee a growth opportunity in the acquisition of Puszta. This strategic move will also strengthen our plans to consolidate market leadership globally.”

Elaborating on Avantha’s growing association with the East European country, Mr. Thapar said, “The Group now has a larger presence in Hungary. Besides Puszta, Global Green already has facilities in Dunakiliti, while Ganz, which is well known for its design and manufacture of mineral oil immersed transformers, HT motors and EHV switchgear, is headquartered in this country.”

Mr. Vineet Chhabra, Managing Director and Group CEO of Global Green said, “The acquisition is part of a long-term strategy to quadruple Global Green’s business by 2013. Puszta has a strong presence in Eastern and Central European markets, including the Baltic States and the Balkan Region, and hence this acquisition will give Global Green a footprint in that region. Further, there will be an opportunity to cross-leverage products to all customers globally.”

Puszta Konzerv Kft. was established in 2001 by two Hungarian businessmen to produce different types of canned vegetables and fruit.

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About Avantha:

The US$ 3 bn Avantha Group is one of India’s leading business conglomerates. Its successful entities include BILT, Crompton Greaves, The Global Green Company, Avantha Power & Infrastructure, Solaris ChemTech, Salient Business Solutions, and Avantha Technologies. International subsidiaries include Pauwels, SFI, Intergarden, Ganz, Microsol and Sonomatra.

The Group has business interests in diverse areas including power transmission and distribution equipments and services, paper and pulp, energy, infrastructure, food processing, farm forestry, chemicals, IT and ITES. Led by Gautam Thapar, Avantha demonstrates strong leadership globally and emerges as a focused corporate, leveraging its knowledge, leadership and operations, adding lasting value for its stakeholders and investors. The Group is on an aggressive growth path, with a targeted turnover of US$ 10 bn and a market capitalization of US$ 25 bn by 2013.

The Global Green Company Limited

The Global Green Company is the foods division of the US$ 3 bn Avantha Group, and is one of the sunrise companies within the Group’s investment portfolio. Global Green cultivates, processes and markets gherkins, jalapeños, pearl onions, capers, pritamin peppers, sweet and sour cherries, and sweet corn. The company has its customer base in 50 countries around the world. Global Green operates three state-of-the-art plants in India, which are located strategically in key growing areas. Its international plants are located in Dunakiliti (Hungary), Aalst (Belgium) and Floragarden (Turkey).