Kerry acquisitions fuel expansion in health and wellness
the US ingredients market with the acquisition of two North
American businesses- Custom Industries and Nuvex Ingredients.
The two companies, which have annual revenues of $83.7m, were acquired earlier this week for $83m.
"These acquisitions were relatively small in size but very important. We have been growing steadily in these sectors and want to continue to strengthen and grow," said Frank Hayes, director of corporate affairs at Kerry.
Custom Industries manufactures ingredients for bakery and ready-to-eat cereal applications, as well as confectionery ingredients for sweet goods. The acquisition includes the company's two production facilities, located in St Genevieve, Missouri and Toronto, Canada.
Nuvex Ingredients, which operates an organically-certified production facility in Blue Earth, Minnesota, specializes in high-protein and fiber nutritional lines, used in breakfast cereals, nutritional snacks and functional foods.
According to the company, the recent acquisitions form part of Kerry's strategy of expanding its technical capabilities in nutritional and wellness categories.
"We have recently built up our business in this area through expansions and acquisitions. This is another significant boost that brings new valuable technology and production capacity to our existing business," Hayes told FoodNavigator-USA.com.
Kerry, which first entered the American ingredients market in the 1980's, currently has over 25 facilities in North America, and does not plan to stop there.
"There will be further additions to our business; our development is ongoing. We are actively looking at targets all the time in all our ingredients sectors across all markets," said Hayes.
The company last year reported total revenue of €4.4bn ($5.3bn), with around $1.4bn turnover in the Americas.
