The deal doubles the retail scale of Findus Group’s operations in Spain, as La Cocinera has a retail turnover of €65M (£46M).
Included in the deal was La Cocinera’s state-of-the-art Valladolid factory in the north west of the country. The site has a workforce of 170 and produces cannelloni, croquettes and chicken nuggets.
James Hill, Findus Group’s ceo, said it was an “important acquisition” for the business.
Leadership in frozen
“La Cocinera is a well-regarded brand in Spain, with a 50-year heritage, a reputation for supplying high quality food and clear market leadership in frozen ready meals,” he claimed.
“Findus already has a market leadership position in frozen vegetables in Spain and this acquisition will increase our presence in the growing Spanish frozen ready meal market. We expect to achieve significant synergies from integrating this business unit with our existing operations.”
The new factory is Findus’s first in Spain and will sit alongside 15 production sites across the UK, Scandinavia and France.
Findus Group aims to continue to develop the La Cocinera brand, which is already deeply rooted in the Spanish market, Hill said.
Ready meals category
The deal would help to reinforce Findus’s position in the ready meals category in France, Spain and Belgium, he added.
Jordi Fábregas, md of Findus Spain, said: “We are pleased to be bringing La Cocinera and its employees into the Findus Spain family. This is a great opportunity to achieve a leadership position in ready meals in Spain and we look forward to moving forward with this together.”
The acquisition will be financed from existing Findus Group cash-flow. Findus Group has a turnover of more than €1.4bn (£1bn). The additional turnover that this acquisition will add represents less than 5% of the current turnover of the Findus Group internationally.
The acquisition follows Findus Group’s positive performance in 2014, achieving operating cash-flow of £67M and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of £91M for the year, up 4% on the previous year, on a constant currency basis.