Puratos Group and Grand-Place Holding sign joint venture
Puratos Group, Groot-Bijgaarden, Belgium, and Grand-Place Holding, Brussels, Belgium, two international groups active in the business-to-business supply of raw materials and ingredients to the food industry, have finalized negotiations for a joint venture agreement in Vietnam, effective January 2013. The signing marks the start of a project that will support the growth of both groups in the region.
Participating in the signing ceremony, which took place Oct. 11 at the Grand-Place factory in Binh Duong, were Daniel Malcorps (front left), CEO of Puratos Group. and Gricha Safarian (front right), president of Grand-Place Holding and managing director of the new joint venture. The groups agreed on the creation a joint venture (70% Puratos and 30% Grand-Place) to join forces on the Vietnamese market and within the region. The joint venture, which will be known as Puratos Grand-Place Vietnam, represents a total investment of $10 million over a five-year period into three business lines: bakery, patisserie and chocolate. The investment will support the increase in production capacity of both groups, as well as the construction of a new distribution center in Binh Duong to improve logistics and service for the entire market. In addition, there will be a new R&D and Innovation Center to service local customers.