CITR, a company dealing with insolvency and restructuring Romania, has auctioned off the agricultural and industrial assets which make up the Mândra oil mill, worth RON 8,960,000 million (approximately EUR 1.8 million). The asset package, sold by CITR as receiver of Mândra SA, a company undergoing reorganization, includes the Mândra oil mill and its related movables and immovables.
“The transaction of the Mândra factory is an important step and, at the same time, a continuation of our efforts to find investors with a wide vision over the future of Romanian businesses, who wish to capitalize the acquired assets, with the purpose of further generating value for the economy. The oil mill held by Mândra SA, an important landmark on Romania’s agro-industrial map, had a significant historical role in the processing and distribution of agricultural products and of agro-industrial derivatives. However, the potential of the sold assets is not limited to the development of the agricultural industry, but provides multiple other possibilities of transformation, expansion or usage of the space for new and varied domains,” says Florin Constantin, CITR Partner.
The sold asset, consisting in land with an area of 21,317 sq. m., buildings, annex buildings, machinery, equipment, and process lines related to the mill, provides the opportunity of usage for oil processing, as well as for other industrial purposes or even the development of commercial, retail, residential or mixed real estate projects.
The Mândra oil mill is in an easily accessible area of Vaslui County, close to sources of raw materials in Vaslui, Iași, Botoșani, Suceava, Neamț and Bacău, as well as to the Republic of Moldova, a key position from a logistic standpoint.
The sale of the asset package was made through public auction, at a market value of over 90%, after important local and national companies in industry and agribusiness have shown interest and attended the auction.
The history of the Mândra oil mill
Mândra SA Bârlad belongs to the former Republica Bârlad Oil Company and was founded as an oil mill, in 1911, on its current location, following the initiative of great Romanian industrialist Nicolae Malaxa, and started only with hydraulic presses powered by steam produced by a locomotive.
Ever since, the mill has constantly undergone upgrade and re-technologization processes. The mill is nowadays acknowledged for the quality of its products and services, and as the creator of the Floris and Clariol brands. In the spring of 2018, the Bârlad oil mill was faced with a fire that destroyed over 80% of its Pressing Division, impacting both production technological equipment, and the building itself. The company’s financial decline ensued.