Kerry Group plc today announced it has reached agreement to sell its Consumer Foods’ Meats and Meals business in the UK and Ireland to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation for a cash consideration of €819 million (£704 million).
The deal is subject to routine closing adjustments, the group said in a statement.
The Meats and Meals business is a best-in-class provider of convenience food solutions, with leading brands and longstanding relationships with major retailers, it added.
The financial results for the year ended 31 December 2020 attributable to the business were revenue of €828 million, EBITDA of €86 million, profit before tax of €63 million, and gross assets of €521 million.
The Meats business is a leading manufacturer of branded and private label meats, meat snacks, food-to-go and meat-free products in the UK and Ireland. Its brands include Richmond, Denny, Galtee, Fridge Raiders and Rollover.
Edmond Scanlon, CEO of Kerry, commented, “Kerry’s strategy for the past 30 years has been to continuously evolve our portfolio, as we progressed on our journey to becoming a market-leading Taste & Nutrition company.
"This transaction further enhances Kerry’s focus as a leading business to business ingredient solutions provider for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets," he said.
"Pilgrim’s is a global provider of high-quality food products and I am convinced they will make an excellent future owner of the Meats and Meals business," Scanlon added.
Oakhouse Brand
The Meals business primarily serves the UK market and specialises in authentic ethnic chilled and frozen ready meals, multi-cuisine ready to cook ranges, and home delivery meals under the Oakhouse brand.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to position Pilgrim’s as a leading prepared foods and branded products player through this acquisition," said Fabio Sandri, CEO of Pilgrim’s.
"We look forward to welcoming Kerry Consumer Foods’ Meats and Meals business’ talented management team and other team members, led by Nick Robinson, to the Pilgrim’s family, and we look forward to working together to drive growth and deliver value for all of our stakeholders,” he added.
© 2021 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. For more a brands news click here. Click sign up to subscribe to Checkout.
