IWP has paid $3 million (£2.1 million) to take full control of the Polish distributor of household and personal care products, Polbita. IWP, which already owned 70 per cent of Polbita, has acquired the remaining 30 per cent of the company from the Canadian investment company, UNP Holdings.

The $3 million consideration included the replacement by IWP of $2.38 million of subordinated loans with new loan facilities. UNP received a cash payment of just under $700,000.

IWP bought into Polbita in July 1996, taking a 70 per cent stake for $4.6 million. Because the company was undercapitalised, only $1 million of the consideration was paid in cash, with the balance of $3.6 million put into Polbita as subordinated loans. At that time UNP put in $2.38 million in subordinated loans for a 30 per cent stake in Polbita. IWP had a five-year option to buy out UNP.

Polbita employs 500 people and has 17 offices and warehouses throughout Poland. Operating in the fast-growing Polish economy with a population of just under 40 million and rapidly rising demand for imported products, Polbita's profits are rising. From a break-even situation in 1996, the company is expected to record profits before tax of about £1 million this year, according to IWP chief executive, Mr Joe Moran.

Full control of Polbita would give IWP a secure and growing market for its own products which were manufactured in Britain and the Netherlands, he said. It would give IWP control over pricing in the market, where sales were rising at about 15 per cent a year. In the medium term, IWP would consider establishing a manufacturing facility in Poland, he said. Polbita has offices in Moscow and Ukraine, providing IWP with access to these large markets as they develop. The company headquarters is in Warsaw.