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Gold/Mining/Energy : Yogen Fruz IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark Kubisz who wrote (1175)	2/27/1999 7:34:00 PM
From: Paul Dhaliwal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2453

Markham, Ont. -- Yogen Fruz World-Wide Inc. says it is deep in talks to buy Eskimo Pie Corp., and told shareholders its stock price has plummeted because Bay Street doesn't understand the company. Yogen Fruz chief executive officer Michael Serruya told the company's annual meeting yesterday that Eskimo Pie of Richmond, Va., has been holding talks with possible buyers and will make a choice soon. "Management has told us they hope to bring final resolution, and that the company will definitely be sold, probably within the next couple of weeks," Mr. Serruya said. Yogen Fruz offered to purchase Eskimo Pie last year for $13 (U.S.) a share or $45-million, but the offer was rejected by the company. Yogen Fruz did not launch a hostile takeover bid, but has acquired 17 per cent of the company by buying shares in the open market. Mr. Serruya said Markham, Ont.-based Yogen Fruz has held talks with Eskimo Pie over the past four months and has signed a confidentiality agreement. He said Yogen Fruz disclosed its offer publicly in November because it had been rebuffed privately for 14 months by Eskimo Pie. "We were successful in achieving what we wanted to achieve, which was to force management's hand to sell the company," he said. "Management had consistently told us they were not interested in selling the company." Shareholders at yesterday's meeting peppered Mr. Serruya with a list of tough questions about his company's recent performance, expressing concern that Yogen Fruz's share price has fallen to a low of $2.95 (Canadian) two weeks ago from an all-time high of $14.30 last May. The shares closed yesterday at $3.09, down 4 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Mr. Serruya said the market has failed to understand the changes in the company since it acquired consumer products company Integrated Brands Inc. last March. Since then, the company has changed from earning all its revenue from franchized frozen dessert outlets to earning almost half from frozen retail products, such as frozen ice cream and juice bars. "It's the Street's lack of understanding of our company going forward and the strategies and programs we've implemented . . . that's part of what is reflected in the stock price," he told shareholders. "All I can tell you is that the fundamentals of this company today are stronger than they've ever been." But one shareholder, who was greeted with cheers and applause, said Mr. Serruya is to blame if analysts have not understood what is happening. "I say shame on you as the chief executive that you don't have someone in public relations or shareholder relations," he said. Mr. Serruya replied that he accepts responsibility for not explaining the company's situation better, but said he has been pressed for time in recent months. He said Yogen Fruz has seen investor relations questions explode in the past four months. He also said the company will hire more help. Shareholders also questioned why profit at the company has been low. Although revenue more than doubled in 1998 to $90-million, because of the Integrated Brands purchase, profit per share did not keep pace. The company reported profit of $12.9-million or 31 cents a share in 1998 compared with $9.9-million or 30 cents in 1997. In the fiscal first quarter, ended Nov. 30, profit fell to just $306,000 or 1 cent a share from $1.7-million or 5 cents in the same period of 1997.