Athens July 17th

SMERemediumCap and Inspiring Earth join forces to create a new, powerful group in the Greek olive oil industry.

With the establishment of a joint company that will acquire the majority stake of the companies “Latzimas S.A.”, “Sitia Oils-LASITIA S.A.” and “Olympian Green International S.A.”, a new strong group in olive oil products is created.

Through the union of companies, significant synergies will be formed both in terms of cost formation and in the flexible commercial policy of a wide range of products.

The new group has multi-year agreements that ensure access to the highest quality and most important olive oil productions of Crete (Rethymno, Sitia) and the Peloponnese.

The main objective of the new group is the expansion of the branded label in the Greek and European market but also the further development in the markets of North America (USA, Canada), South America (Brazil), Asia (Japan) and Oceania, which are the regions with the largest imports of olive oil worldwide.

The total investment amounts to € 10 million.  The strength of the new capital and additional bank financing will support a growth-oriented commercial policy to achieve the group’s strategic objectives. These objectives concern its geographical expansion, the development of complementary products and its vertical integration with partnerships and investments in the targeted markets and companies to increase turnover and profitability.

Mr. Nikolaos Karamouzis, President of SMERemediumCap stated: “We are very pleased and optimistic about our entry into a sector in which our country has a stable and significant global presence and on our effort for the financial consolidation of companies with a dynamic perspective with benefits for local economies, employees and the country. Greek olive oil has great potential for growth and needs bigger, more powerful and more extrovert businesses.  I would also like to thank the banks and servicers involved for our cooperation and for accepting our proposals for financing and reducing the company’s total liabilities.”

Mr. Konstantinos Antonopoulos, President and CEO of Inspiring Earth, stated: “With our ten years of experience in the field of olive oil, we see that in a period of turbulence in global production, this collaboration is the right step for the emergence of a new group with a leading role, which will be able to respond to the great challenges and opportunities in the international market. In this effort, an important role will be played by the executives of the companies, especially “LATZIMAS S.A.” which is the largest Company of the new group in which the Kotzabasakis brothers have done an excellent job”.

“Latzimas S.A.” is one of the most important Greek companies in the sector with a special presence in the Greek and European market. It is based in Rethymno and has a complete and vertically integrated production infrastructure while at the same time it has access to privately owned olive groves, which contributes to the competitiveness of its products.

“Oils of Sitia-LASITIA S.A. founded four years ago, markets the internationally recognized and sought-after Sitia PDO Extra Virgin Olive Oil by the agricultural cooperatives of the region and has bottling facilities with a standardization capacity of 90 tons per day.

“Olympian Green International S.A.” markets olive oil from the Western Peloponnese with emphasis on P.G.I. Olympia. The Company is among the five Greek brands with the most awards and prestigious distinctions, having won more than 60 international awards.

SMERemediumCap, as the majority shareholder of the joint venture, will contribute to the financial restructuring of the group’s companies and will ensure access to new financing tools and debt capital.

The management of the new group will be undertaken by the executives of “Inspiring Earth” with Mr. Constantinos Antonopoulos as CEO. This is a team that has many years of experience in the market of branded olive oil.

The retention of founding members of “Latzimas” and executives of “EAS Sitia” in the new scheme is also particularly important for the presence and strong role of the new group in the local communities where the companies operate, since the primary goal of the group is to work for the strengthening and empowerment of local producers.