TreeHouse Foods, Inc. has agreed to acquire Protenergy Natural Foods, a maker of private label soups, for C$170 million (approximately $150 million) in cash from Whitecastle Investments Ltd., Whitecap Venture Partners and others.
With 2013 sales of approximately C$130 million, Richmond Hill, Ont.-based Protenergy specializes in carton and recart broth, soups and gravies for private label and corporate brands and co-manufactures products for large national brands.
The transaction is expected to close late in the second quarter of 2014. TreeHouse anticipates the transaction will have approximately 5c to 7c impact on 2014 earnings per share and will add approximately 11c to 14c earnings per share in 2015.
“We are delighted to welcome Protenergy Natural Foods and its innovative capabilities in premium food and beverage products to the TreeHouse family,” said Sam K. Reed, chairman, president and chief executive officer of TreeHouse Foods. “The acquisition of Protenergy is expected to expand our existing packaging capabilities and enables us to offer customers a full range of soup products, both wet and dry. The addition of Protenergy is also expected to leverage our R.&D. capabilities in the evolution of shelf stable liquids from cans to cartons. Lastly, we believe Protenergy’s packaging applications present meaningful growth opportunities in the categories that we already play in today, as well as closely adjacent food and beverage categories.”
