Olymel, Supraliment Merger Approved

TORONTO - Apr 14/05 - SNS -- Canada's Competition Bureau will allow Olymel l.p., a subsidiary of the La Coop fédérée, and Supraliment l.p., a subsidiary of Groupe Brochu, to merge their activities.

Prince Foods l.p., which was already the subject of a partnership agreement between Groupe Brochu and Olymel l.p. in 2002, will also be part of this merger. This transaction, the value of which will not be disclosed, was submitted to the Competition Bureau for its approval last October.

Over the next few weeks, management of Olymel l.p. will make public, the necessary changes to integrate the slaughtering, cutting, boning, processing, and marketing activities of our two companies, marketed mainly with our Olymel, Lafleur, Flamingo, Prince and Galco Foods brands.

Once completed, the merger of Supraliment l.p. and Olymel l.p., will make the company that will operate under the name Olymel l.p., the Canadian leader in the field of slaughtering, processing and marketing pork and poultry meat products, with facilities in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta.

The new company will employ more than 10,000 people. With exports representing more than 50% of its turnover, mainly to the United States, Japan, Australia and to more than 60 other countries, its sales are expected to reach 2.5 billion dollars this year.

Most of the shares for Olymel l.p. are held by La Coop fédérée, an agricultural cooperative federation with more than 51,000 members. Groupe Brochu and SGF-Soquia also hold major interests in the company. Olymel l.p. has its head office in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec.