Nomad to buy Findus for £500m
Nomad will acquire Findus Group’s businesses in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Spain and Belgium. The deal will expand its European footprint as it already operates Findus in Italy. The remainder of Findus Group, including Young’s Seafood in the UK, is not part of the deal.
Nomad Foods will purchase around 1,500 employees and six manufacturing facilities in Norway, Sweden, France and Spain, as well as the intellectual property and commercialisation rights in the relevant territories.
Stéfan Descheemaeker, Nomad’s chief executive officer, said: “This transaction is in line with our growth strategy, an exciting addition to the Nomad portfolio, and a significant milestone in reaching our goal of building a global consumer foods company.
“The Findus name is well-loved and iconic across the European continent, and having the businesses under one umbrella brings together two talented, world-class teams, enabling us to share best practices and to elevate and evolve the brand as we bring an even greater choice of products to consumers.”
James Hill, chief executive of Findus Group, said: “This transaction represents a strategic milestone for Findus and is a positive development for the European food industry as a whole. The new group will be bigger, stronger, more efficient and more innovative than its component parts, offering significant benefits not only to consumers, but to all of our stakeholders.”
The Nomad deal has been entered into with LionGem Sweden, backed by Highbridge Principal Strategies, Lion Capital LLP and Sankaty Advisors. The £400m cash portion of the purchase price is expected to be funded through a combination of Nomad’s cash in hand and debt. The rest will be issued as 8.4m shares to the seller.
