Birds Eye owner Nomad Foods has completed the €110m (£99.5m) deal to add Findus Switzerland to its growing frozen empire.
The transaction unifies the Findus brand across Europe under the Nomad umbrella, with the group already owning the frozen food business in Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark following a £500m acquisition in 2015.
The acquisition expands Nomad’s geographic reach into Switzerland, a new and sizable market for the group, providing an extension for its Findus product offering and portfolio of other brands.
Nomad, which also owns Iglo, Birds Eye, Goodfella’s and Aunt Bessie’s, acquired Findus Switzerland from ice cream maker Froneri International, a joint venture between Nestlé and French PE house PAI Partners created in 2016 from the merger of Nestlé’s European ice cream business and PAI-owned R&R to create Froneri.
Commenting on the transaction, Stéfan Descheemaeker, Nomad Foods’ CEO said, “The acquisition of Findus Switzerland reinforces Nomad’s position as Europe’s leading frozen food company and demonstrates our ability to create shareholder value through a combination of organic growth and the accretive deployment of capital.
“We are eager to welcome the Findus Switzerland team into our organization and look forward to replicating the growth model that has delivered strong performance across our existing portfolio.”
Nomad said the Swiss market would be “an attractive entry point” for its plant-based Green Cuisine range.
It anticipates multiple sources of value creation including the opportunity to realize commercial and procurement synergies. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to adjusted earnings in 2021.
The purchase price was funded through cash on hand.
No comments yet