Italy's Granarolo has taken complete control of its British distributor Granarolo UK, the dairy group said on Monday, adding that it was looking at more acquisitions this year.
Granarolo, which produces a large range of products including milk, yogurt and mascarpone cheese, said it had bought the 49% of Granarolo UK it did not own in a move to strengthen its footprint in Britain.
This deal follows other transactions by Italian food companies in Britain including the recent purchase of Pasta Evangelist by Barilla and Ferrero's deals last year to acquire Fox's biscuits and Eat Natural's cereal bars.
"The consolidation of Granarolo UK is an important step in the group's growth policy abroad," Granarolo Chairman Gianpiero Calzolari said in a statement.
"During the year we aim to acquire other companies in Italy, Europe and overseas," he added.
Market Share
Granarolo accounts for more than 10% of all the dairy products Italian food producers sell in Britain and 8.8% of Italy's global dairy exports.
Granarolo UK posted sales worth €60 million ($72.89 million) last year, slightly down compared with 2019, the Italian group said.
In April of this year, the dairy company Granarolo announced the complete acquisition of hard cheese processing and packaging company Mulino Formaggi, by increasing its shareholding from 40% to 100% by purchasing a majority stake in the Parma-based company from Mulino Alimentare.
Granarolo reported a 19% growth in net profit in its financial year 2020, to €15.8 million, while EBITDA stood at €78.5 million, or 6.1% of revenue (+8%).
