Eight Fifty Food Group, controlled by the private equity firm CapVest, has announced that it has acquired Hamburg-based Greenland Seafood for an undisclosed sum.
The transaction is subject to standard closing conditions and approval from the German, French and Polish competition authorities.
Greenland Seafood will continue to operate under the leadership of general managers Allan Jensen and Patrick Barinet after the acquisition is complete.
'Ambitions For Further Growth'
Commenting on the deal, Jensen, said, “In Eight Fifty we recognise a partner which shares this vision and matches our ambitions for further growth. We look forward to the next stage for Greenland as part of the Eight Fifty Food Group family."
Greenland Seafood is one of the largest producers of frozen seafood products in mainland Europe, with around 600 employees in its two manufacturing units in Boulogne-sur-Mer in France and Wilhelmshaven in Germany.
The acquisition will help Eight Fifty expand its presence in mainland Europe and complement its existing UK seafood division, Young’s Seafood.
It will also take company’s sales figures to circa £1.7 billion and the total number of employees to 8,000 across 21 sites in the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe.
‘Platform For Further Acquisitions’
Jason Rodrigues, partner at CapVest, said, “Greenland represents a major step for Eight Fifty Food Group into mainland Europe, and this transaction is consistent with our ambitious strategy to pursue acquisition-led growth opportunities aimed at positioning Eight Fifty as a market-leading European food group.”
In May of this year, CapVest acquired Ireland’s M&M Walshe Holdings Limited and integrated the business to its newly created company Eight Fifty Food Group, according to a report in The Irish Times.
Other subsidiaries of Eight Fifty Food Group include Karro Food and Young’s Seafood, which CapVest acquired in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
M&M Walshe Holdings Limited, which trades as RibWorld, Callan Bacon and Stirchley Bacon, is a family-run business that processes and supplies gammon, bacon and sous-vide meat products.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
