SEC Company Response from Mastellone San Luis, Inc. (CIK 0001315150) — Apr 19, 2005
Mastellone San Luis, Inc. (CIK 0001315150)
Date: April 19, 2005 · CIK: 0001315150 · Accession: 0000950136-05-002152
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-122268
Referenced dates: April 12, 2005
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SHEARMAN & STERLING LLP
FAX: 212 848-7179 599 LEXINGTON AVENUE ABU DHABI
TELEX: 667290 WUI NEW YORK, NY 10022-6069 BEIJING
www.shearman.com 212 848-4000 BRUSSELS
DUSSELDORF
FRANKFURT
Writer's Direct Number: HONG KONG
212-848-8811 LONDON
MANNHEIM
MENLO PARK
Writer's Email Address: MUNICH
cjones@shearman.com NEW YORK
PARIS
ROME
April 19, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO
SAO PAULO
SINGAPORE
TOKYO
TORONTO
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Via EDGAR Transmission
----------------------
H. Roger Schwall
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Judiciary Plaza
Washington, D.C. 20549
Mastellone Hermanos S.A.
Registration Statement on Form F-4 (File No. 333-122268)
Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of our client, Mastellone Hermanos S.A. (the "Company"), set
forth below are responses to the comments of the Staff of the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") received by letter dated
April 12, 2005 on the Amendment No. 1 ("Amendment No. 1") to the registration
statement on Form F-4 (the "F-4") relating to the proposed exchange offer (the
"Exchange Offer") by the Company of its outstanding 8% Collateralized Senior
Notes due 2012, Series A-1 and Series B-1 for its 8% Collateralized Senior Notes
due 2012, Series A-2 and Series B-2, respectively.
The Company's responses to the Commission's comments are set forth below in
paragraphs that correspond to the numbered paragraphs of the Commission's
letter. Please note that the page references in the Commission's comments
included below correspond to the page numbers of the Amendment No. 1 as filed on
March 29, 2005 and page references in the responses of the Company correspond to
the number of the Amendment No. 2 to the F-4 that accompanies this letter. We
enclose copies of Amendment No. 2 to the F-4 marked to show changes in the
filing accompanying this letter from Amendment No. 1, which was filed with the
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Commission on March 29, 2005. Unless otherwise defined herein capitalized terms
used below have the meanings provided in the prospectus (the "Prospectus")
included in the F-4.
On behalf of the Company, we advise you as follows:
General
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1. We remind you to make parallel changes to all affected disclosure.
Response to Comment No. 1: The Company has revised the F-4 to reflect
the Commission's comments.
2. In response to our prior comment 12 you provided on a supplemental
basis, materials that you identify as supportive of statements made in
the prospectus. However, the submissions filed on EDGAR as
correspondences and the courtesy copies mailed to us were incomplete.
For example, in your response, you reference pages that were not
located in the submission provided to us (i.e. a reference to page 5
of Annex B, which Annex B contained only 4 pages). We note also that
the material provided were in Spanish and were not clearly marked to
indicate the portion of the document that provided the support for the
statement identified in our prior comment. Although we were able to
discern the bases of support for certain statements, we were unable to
locate the support for statements you assert were located in Annex B
and Annex C of the materials provided. Consequently, we reissue our
prior comment 12. To expedite our review, please ensure that future
submissions are clearly marked, include all pertinent pages, are
translated into English, and are accurately identified in the response
letter.
Response to Comment No. 2: The Company has provided English
translations of the prior Annex A, Annex B and Annex C with this letter and
has included the comments from the prior response letter below with revised
page numbers.
o you are the leading processor and distributor of fresh dairy
products in Argentina;
The Company has revised this language on pages 1 and 66 to read
as follows: "We are the leading processor and distributor of
fresh dairy products in Argentina, ranking first in market share
in fluid milk, cream and butter, according to market surveys made
by CCR Market Knowledge, an Argentine market research company."
Attached hereto as Annex A is the January 2005 report from of CCR
Market Research. The Company ranked first in terms of sales and
volume in fluid milk, fresh milk, cream, butter and dulce de
leche. Please see the following pages of Annex A for the
following market shares: fluid milk (pages 2 and 9), cream (pages
5 and 12), butter (pages 6 and 13).
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o "According to several independent marketing surveys conducted
over the last few years, our La Serenisima brand has consistently
ranked among the leaders in brand image among all consumer brands
in Argentina, ranking first in 2004, according to surveys made by
Clarin, an Argentine newspaper."
Attached hereto as Annex B is an article from Clarin published on
January 23, 2005 that ranks "La Serenisima" first. See the tables
on pages 1 and 6 of Annex B. See also in Annex C the tables on
pages 1 and 3.
o "[w]e believe our products are recognized throughout Argentina
for their consistently superior quality...,";
The Company has revised this language on page 67 to read as
follows: "We believe that our products are recognized throughout
Argentina for their consistently superior quality, as recognized
by different market surveys, such as one made in 2005 by CEOP, an
Argentine research firm and Apertura, an Argentine magazine."
Attached hereto as Annex C an article from the March 2005 edition
of the magazine Apertura in which it ranks La Serenisima, the
Company's brand, as number 6 in 2005 and listed it number 3 in
2004. See the table on page 3 of Annex C.
o "[w]e believe we have created the most extensive and efficient
distribution network for dairy products in Argentina...,";
The Company has revised this language on page 67 to read as
follows:
"We believe that we have created an extensive and efficient
distribution network for dairy products in Argentina."
o "[w]e believe that our General Rodriguez complex...is the most
advanced large-scale milk processing facility in Latin America";
and
The Company has deleted this statement.
o you enjoyed, as of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003 and
the nine-month period ended 2004, market shares of approximately
56.6% and 57.8%, respectively, of the Argentine fluid milk market
in terms of physical volume.
The Company has revised the 2004 market share to be 56.6%. These
numbers are based on the January 2005 report from of CCR Market
Research attached hereto as Annex A. Please see page 9 for the
market share of fluid milk.
Prospectus Cover Page
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3. Please correct the caption on the top of the page to disclose that you
are offering to exchange new Series B-2 notes for outstanding Series
B-1 notes, or advise.
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Also, ensure that references to the "old" and "new" notes are
consistent throughout the prospectus. Refer, for example, to the
revised text at the top of page 2.
Response to Comment No. 3: The Company has revised the Prospectus
Cover Page and page 2 of the F-4 to reflect the Commission's comments. The
Company has also reviewed and revised the rest of the F-4 to reflect the
Commission's comments.
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition, page 42
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Critical Account Policies, page 44
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4. We note your revised critical accounting policy disclosures on page 44
regarding "estimates of carrying values of assets and liabilities".
Please remove all such general discussions. Critical accounting
policies should present your analysis of the uncertainties involved in
applying a particular principle at a given time or the variability
that is reasonably likely to result from a particular principle over
time. Additionally, remove the statement that you design your
assumptions using a "conservative approach" to have a "reasonable
cushion" for your estimates.
Response to Comment No. 4: The Company has revised this section to
reflect the Commission's comments.
5. We note your response to prior comment 28. Please expand your proposed
disclosure to include quantitative analyses of the sensitivities of
your accounting estimates and assumptions. Refer to FRC 501.14. for
further guidance.
Response to Comment No. 5: The Company has revised this section to
reflect the Commission's comments.
Our Business, page 66
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Principal Production Facilities, page 73
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6. Provide support for your belief that the General Rodriguez plant is
"one of the largest dairy processing facilities in the world and the
largest...in Latin America," or revise the statement accordingly.
Response to Comment No. 6: The Company has deleted this statement.
Financial Statements, page F-1
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General
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7. We note several adjustments to line items in your consolidated balance
sheet as of December 31, 2003 and in your consolidated statements of
operations and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2003. For
example, the line item "Net sales" on page F-53 changed from 1,130,099
in your Form F-4 filed on January
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25, 2005 to 1,132,141 in your Form F-4 filed on March 29, 2005.
Supplementally tell us why line item adjustments were necessary.
Response to Comment No. 7: The Company, as explained in Note 4 e) 1)
to the consolidated financial statements, adopted Technical Resolution No.
21 in 2004 and consolidated a subsidiary, ConSer Promotora y Asesora de
Seguros S.A. (C-PAS). The Company, as allowed in Technical Resolution No.
21, retroactively restated the consolidated financial statements for the
year ended December 31, 2003 to also consolidate the accounts of C-PAS.
C-PAS was not consolidated before the adoption of Technical Resolution No.
21, due to the difference in its type of business (insurance brokerage) in
comparison with the rest of companies. The effect of consolidating C-PAS is
not material for our consolidated financial statements. The several
adjustments noted by the Staff to line items in the Company's consolidated
financial statements as of December 31, 2003, were attributable to the
adoption of Technical Resolution No. 21.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, page F-2
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8. The audit report included for Becher Lichentstein & Asociados should
make reference to its international affiliation to BDO. See Item V.A.,
"Audit Report Signature Requirements", of the International Reporting
and Disclosures Issues in the Division of Corporation Finance at
http://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/internatl/
cfirdissues1104.htm#P349_51770. Please have your auditors revise
accordingly.
Response to Comment No. 8: Due to an error during the conversion
process to EDGAR, the header and the footer included in auditors' report
was omitted in the version that was filed through EDGAR. Please see
modified version of the F-4 that includes the footer, indicating Becher
Lichtenstein & Asociados international affiliation to BDO International.
Note 5 - Breakdown of Main Accounts, page F-25
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Deferred Income Taxes, page F-28
--------------------------------
9. Supplementally explain the item identified as "adjustment to present
value" included in your analysis of deferred tax liabilities and tell
us how your accounting for this adjustment is in accordance with U.S.
generally accepted accounting principles.
Response to Comment No. 9: An exchange of debt instruments with
substantially different terms is considered an extinguishment of debt under
Argentine GAAP as explained in Note 1 e) 2) to the consolidated financial
statements. Accordingly, the carrying value of the old debt instrument was
derecognized from the Company's consolidated balance sheet and the new debt
instrument was initially recorded at fair value (that is, the present value
of the new debt instrument) with the difference recognized as gain or loss
on debt extinguishment. The fair value of the new debt instrument is
adjusted at each balance sheet date to reflect changes in its fair value.
Under Argentine income tax regulations, the tax basis for the new debt
instrument is its face (or nominal) amount and not its fair value.
Accordingly, the gain from extinguishment of debt recognized by the Company
representing the difference between the face (or nominal) amount of the new
debt instrument and its fair value (or present value) was not subjected to
income tax at the time of the exchange but is rather subject to income tax
over the remaining term of the new debt instrument. Accordingly, the
Company recognized the tax effect for the difference in basis as a deferred
tax liability and presented such in the analysis of deferred tax
liabilities in line item "adjustment to present value".
The adjustment identified as "adjustment to present value"