S.Korea Lotte Buys Belgium's Guylian for $164 Million

South Korea's Lotte Confectionery will acquire Belgian chocolate maker Guylian for 105 million euros ($164 million), marking its debut in the European premium chocolate market, Lotte said on Monday.

Christophe Ena / AP

Lotte, South Korea's biggest snack company, signed a contract on Saturday under which it will purchase a 100 percent stake in the Belgium-based company, which competes with Italy's Ferrero Rocher and Switzerland's Lindt.

"With the acquisition of Guylian, Lotte is aiming to make a successful entry into the premium gift chocolate market," Lotte said in a statement.

Lotte will jointly set up an investment company with Japan's Lotte in the Netherlands to buy Guylian from owner Dominique Foubert and two other entities, according to Lotte's filing to the Korea Exchange.

Details on the Netherlands-based company's ownership structure have yet to be determined.

Guylian has an annual production capacity worth about 300 billion won ($291.1 million), and sales networks in nine markets ranging from Europe to the United States. Most of its annual sales of 130 billion won are in Europe.

As part of its global expansion strategy, Lotte is also seeking to launch a holding company in China and build a plant in Russia, and expects overseas businesses to eventually represent about a fifth of its annual sales.

Last year it created a $80 million venture with Hershey to jointly operate a chocolate factory near Shanghai.

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