By Sneha Shankar -
Nomad Foods Ltd., a London-based packaged foods company, said Thursday that it will buy the continental European operations of Findus Group for 500 million pounds ($781 million). The acquisition follows Nomad’s agreement four months ago to buy Iglo Foods Holdings Ltd., for 2.6 billion euros ($2.9 billion).
Nomad, which will offer 8.4 million shares to the sellers, said in the statement that the acquisition will add Findus’ continental European businesses in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Spain and Belgium to its portfolio. Nomad will pay 400 million pounds in cash and the remainder through debt funding from UBS AG, Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) Group AG and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) Plc., Bloomberg reported.
Combining Iglo and Findus will form a frozen-food giant offering products ranging from fish fingers to peas to lasagna. The operations being acquired employ 1,500 people in six manufacturing facilities.
"While the operations we are acquiring are strong, attractive assets on their own, combining them with our existing businesses creates a unique value proposition and unlocks new growth opportunities,” Stéfan Descheemaeker, Nomad's CEO, said, in the statement. Descheemaeker also added that bringing the businesses under “one umbrella” will enhance the company's product range.
The Feltham, U.K.-based Iglo is the second-largest producer of frozen food in the world and had a market share of 3.3 percent in 2014, Bloomberg reported, citing estimates from Euromonitor International.
Martin E. Franklin and Noam Gottesman, Nomad's founders, also said in the statement that the acquisition -- subject to regulatory approval -- would enhance the company's "product offering, customer reach, and geographic footprint, further solidifying our leadership position in Europe's fragmented frozen foods sector."