Convenience foods firm Greencore has announced the acquisition of Freshtime UK Limited, a Lincolnshire-based supplier of food-to-go salads, chilled snacks and prepared produce.
The deal, which sees Greencore acquire the whole of the issued share capital of The Bay Group Limited, the parent company of Freshtime, is valued at £56 million (€61.3 million).
It will be funded from existing debt facilities, and will be neutral to earnings in FY 2019 and modestly accretive in FY20, Greencore said.
'Highly Complementary'
In a statement, Greencore said that the acquisition will extend the business' presence in the fresh salads and chilled snacking areas, with Freshtime's customer base 'highly complementary' to Greencore's portfolio.
Greencore already distributes much of Freshtime's products through its direct-to-store network.
In the 12 months ended December 20181, Freshtime generated revenues of £66 million (€72.3 million) and profit before tax of £5.6 million. Gross assets at 31 December 2018 were £22 million.
“Freshtime is an excellent strategic fit for Greencore," said Greencore chief executive Patrick Coveney. "It is a business and a customer set that we know very well and it provides us with an exciting opportunity to enhance our product offering, add further capacity to our manufacturing network, and help drive growth and value for shareholders. We look forward very much to welcoming the Freshtime team to Greencore.”
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
