'Cauldron Foods joins Premier Foods' Healthy Eating Portfolio for £27.0m
Premier Foods plc (“Premier”) announces that it has completed the acquisition of Cauldron Foods Ltd (“Cauldron”), a leading manufacturer of branded, chilled meat free products, from Rayner & Co (Investments) Limited for £27.0m. The consideration was satisfied through a cash payment.
Cauldron is one of the leading brands in the chilled meat free and organic food category and was one of the first manufacturers of tofu in the UK. Cauldron?s products include meal-centres (sausages, burgers, grills and bakes); snacks (pates and ethnic snacks such as falafel); and, tofu (as a base ingredient). Approximately 92% of sales are branded under the Cauldron brand with the remainder own label. In the year to 31 December 2004, Cauldron sales were £14.7m and normalised EBITDA for 2004 was £2.7m. The gross assets of Cauldron Foods Limited at 31 December 2004 were £9.6m and profit before tax for the year to 31 December 2004 was £1.3m.
The Cauldron brand will sit along side and be highly complementary to Premier?s existing healthy eating brand, Quorn. Under Premier?s ownership, Cauldron will benefit from greater investment and access to Premier?s infrastructure.
Cauldron operates from a manufacturing site at Portishead, near Bristol, which employs approximately 215 people.
Robert Schofield, Chief Executive of Premier Foods, said:
“Cauldron?s strong position in tofu and vegetable based products will further enhance our position in the high-growth healthy eating market and will be highly complementary to our Quorn brand.
“Cauldron fulfils all our acquisition criteria. It enhances our branded mix, it is UK focused and meets all our financial hurdles.”
For further information, please contact:
Premier Foods plc Tel: 01727 815 850
Paul Thomas, Finance Director
Robert Lawson, Director of Mergers & Acquisitions and Investor Relations
Gwyn Tyley, Investor Relations Manager
Citigate Dewe Rogerson Tel: 020 7638 9571
Sara Batchelor,
Anthony Kennaway
Share price PFD.L 90.00 GBP 1.00 GBP (1.12%) | 24/07/2008 10:25 | Data delayed by 20 min from the LSE, provided by Reuters. Disclaimer.