Grupo Bimbo Completes Weston Expansion

January 22/Mexico City/PRNewswire -- Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V. announced the completion of its acquisition of the U.S. fresh bakery business of Weston Foods Inc. (WFI) from Dunedin Holdings S.a r.l., a subsidiary of Toronto-based George Weston Limited, and the separate acquisition of related financial assets. The acquisition was announced on December 10, 2008, and has received necessary regulatory approvals.

The two transactions were valued at $2,380 million and $125 million, respectively. The combined $2,505 million payment was made through $2,300 million in financing and the company's existing cash holdings.

"This transaction is the most important in Grupo Bimbo's history and one of the largest in the bread industry. Size alone, however, is not our main objective. Rather, our vision is to become the best baking company, and we furthered that goal today by demonstrating a commitment and dedication to serving our consumers and customers in the most effective way possible," said Daniel Servitje, chief executive officer of Grupo Bimbo.

From the February 2, 2009, Prepared Foods E-dition