OREANDA-NEWS. January 15, 2010. Kernel Group purchased an option to buy a controlling interest stake in Allseeds Group, one of the top three sunflower oil producers in Ukraine, which owns two oil extraction plants with an annual capacity of 565kt. Kernel is willing to pay USD 42mn for the deal in case the deal is given the go ahead by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.

Millennium Capital sees the news to be positive for KER, since the purchase will open the way for expending Kernel capacity by around 60%. Moreover, Allseeds Group production process is highly cost effective, since the Company had invested about USD 20mn to upgrade and complete the modernization of its plants in 2009. As a result, Millennium Capital expects Kernel cost effectiveness and Net Income to improve in 2010, increasing the Company market share to around 50%.