Vilkyškių pieninė asks for permission to acquire Marijampolė pieno konzervus
Vilkyškių pieninė, owned by one of the largest dairy processing groups in Lithuania „Vilvi Group“, has applied to the Competition Council for a permission to acquire the financially distressed company „Marijampolės pieno konservai“ (MPK).
Vilkyškių pieninė is seeking to acquire a 100 % stake in Marijampolė. The Council announces that it received the application for the transaction on 17 October.
Among others, the transaction will be implemented through a number of related transactions: the raw milk purchasing agricultural cooperative „Džiaugsmelis“ intends to acquire 100 % of the shares of the company's shareholders. The Dairy Dairy Cooperative will acquire 100% of the shares of the Klaipėda company „Karpis“, the shares of Klaipėda company „Karpis“, the shares of the MPK manager „Karpis“, and through it „Ferogama“ and the shares of the Ukrainian company „DP Vitaut“;;, the shares of the Spanish company „Rarkarpis“, and through it „Marilitu“ and the shares of the Spanish company „Marilitu“ and the shares of the dairy factory of Širvinty.
According to the Centre of Registers, the beneficiary of „Džiaugsmelio“ is listed as Magdalyna Umalenova, a Cypriot national who manages the cooperative through a number of companies in Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Cyprus.
BNS wrote that Vilkyškių pieninė announced in May that it had signed an agreement with „Karpis“ on the sale and purchase of 90–100 per cent of the shares of MPK – at that time it was announced that the final stake of the shares to be sold will depend on the implementation of the terms of the agreement, and their price will be set after a financial audit and an evaluation of the company's operating results.
„Vilvi Group“'s CEO and shareholder Gintaras Bertašius told BNS at the time that no radical changes are planned after the takeover of MPK – it will continue to produce canned milk and flour, and possibly will increase its volumes.
Vilkyškių pieninė acquired in February this year, for an undisclosed amount, a claim on the outstanding liabilities of MPK and its Lukšių pieninė to its main creditor Artea bank. At the end of 2024, they amounted to €16 million.
The agreement comes after the courts definitively recognised the legality of the will of Raimonds Karpavičius, the owner of MPK, who passed away in 2019, and put an end to the disputes in the courts over the management of MPK and „Karpis“.
