ESPOO, FINLAND — Leipurin SIA, a subsidiary of Aspo Group’s Leipurin Ltd., has acquired the entire share capital of the Latvian company Raugs un citas preces SIA (RCP). RCP, which sells and markets ingredients for the baking and food industry in Latvia, was founded in 1995 and has annual sales of approximately €5 million ($7.3 million).

“Our Leipurin unit in Latvia was founded in 1999, after which we have achieved a stable position as a partner for the country’s bakery and food industry,” said Matti Väänänen, managing director for Leipurin. “The transaction now concluded will give us a strong position in Latvia’s bakery industry and provides Leipurin with a strong foundation on which to develop its customer service role and logistics throughout the entire Baltic region.

"By acquiring RCP, we can combine our strong knowhow with the expertise of a solid local company. Also in Latvia, we act as a partner for bakery customers in both production and product development. We not only provide them with ingredients, machinery and equipment but also, according to our overall concept, develop the tastes and structures of customer products as well as competence related to production and product developments. Our test bakery is a center for product development and training.”

Aki Ojanen, chief executive officer of Aspo, said the acquisition is in line with Leipurin’s strategy of expanding its presence in the Baltic Sea region and the Eastern markets.

“In 2009, we expanded our business operations into Ukraine and strengthened our foothold in Russia by establishing ourselves in Siberia,” Mr. Ojanen said. “The Eastern markets offer us excellent opportunities to develop our food processing operations, in particular.”

Leipurin serves the baking and food industry by supplying ingredients, production machinery and production lines, as well as related expertise. The company, which has operations in the Baltic Sea Region and Commonwealth of Independent States countries, posted sales of €72 million between January-September 2009.