Sale of Melon Production and Sales Business in North America

Sumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer: Shingo Ueno) hereby announces that it has sold the SOL Group to Eagle Produce, LLC (hereinafter "Eagle Produce") on October 10.
The SOL Group operates melon production and sales businesses and is held through Fyffes International SA (hereinafter "Fyffes"), a company engaged in fruit and vegetable import and wholesale operations in Europe and the Americas.
Eagle Produce is a U.S.-based melon production and sales company doing business as "Martori Farms."

Sumitomo Corporation acquired Fyffes and its subsidiary SOL Group in 2017. Although Fyffes recorded impairment losses on certain assets at the end of fiscal 2023 due to a business plan review, it is steadily advancing management reforms, with its core banana and pineapple businesses achieving record profits for two consecutive fiscal years. Yet synergy between the melon business and the banana and pineapple businesses proved hard to realize, leading to the determination that sale to Eagle Produce, the largest melon producer in the U.S., was the optimal solution.
Moving forward, Fyffes will focus its management resources on its core banana and pineapple businesses to pursue further growth.

Sumitomo Corporation announced its Mid-Term Management Plan 2026 in May 2024, which includes transforming its business portfolio. This sale is part of that initiative. The sale is expected to result in a loss of approximately 6 billion yen in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2025, which has already been factored into the initial earnings forecast for fiscal 2025.