Hain Celestial, a US-based natural and organic food products company, has completed the acquisition of some of the packaged grocery brands of UK-based Premier Foods in a £200m cash-and-stock deal.
The consideration consisted of cash payment of £170m and 836,426 shares of Hain Celestial that are estimated to be worth at least £30m.
The acquisition includes brands such as Hartley's jams and marmalades, Sun-Pat peanut butter, Gale's honey, Robertson's jams and marmalades, and Frank Cooper's jams, which together generated over $250m in sales in fiscal 2011.
The deal also includes Premier Foods' manufacturing base in Cambridgeshire, UK.
Hain Celestial president and CEO Irwin Simon said the acquisition will enable the company to expand in the UK, while simultaneously positioning it among the leading food companies in the country.
The acquired business will become a part of Hain Daniels, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hain Celestial which was established in October 2011 following the acquisition of UK-based Daniels Group.
In addition, the acquired grocery brands will be combined to form a new Ambient Grocery Division, which will supply products to leading food retailers, food service, business-to-business and export companies in the UK.
Premier Foods has been struggling with a debt of £1.3bn, which was built up through acquisitions of several brands including Homepride and Fray Bentos. To lower its debt, the company announced in October 2011 that it would focus on eight 'power brands' and divest select businesses.
