Aunt Bessie’s sold for €240m

Nomad Foods has agreed to buy frozen food brand Aunt Bessie’s for €240 million (£210m).

It was purchased from Yorkshire-based food group William Jackson & Son, and is set to include its factory in Hull.

Nomad Foods, registered in the British Virgin Islands, said the deal would help it get a foothold in the roast dinner market as Aunt Bessie’s is best known for frozen Yorkshire puddings and potato products. It will also further develop Nomad’s portfolio in the UK, which it called a “strategically important market”.

The company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, already owns Birds Eye and earlier this year snapped up Goodfella’s Pizza from Green Isle Foods, a subsidiary of Boparan Holdings.

Nomad Foods’ co-chairman and founder Noam Gottesman said the deal “illustrates the power of our value-creation model, which is fuelled by organic revenue growth, strong free cash flow and disciplined M&A”.

He added: “Similar to Goodfella’s Pizza, which we acquired earlier this year, Aunt Bessie’s is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings while providing complementary category exposure, synergy opportunities and new avenues for growth.

“We look forward to welcoming the Aunt Bessie’s team to our organisation and working together to build on their success.”

Aunt Bessie’s reported revenues of about €123m in the year to April 2018, while adjusted underlying earnings reached €23m.

A media spokesman for Nomad Foods said that Aunt Bessie’s employs fewer than 400 people, all of whom are set to join the company through the acquisition. The deal is expected to be completed during the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approvals.

Nomad Foods also owns brands including Iglo, Findus, La Cocinera, and Lutosa.