McCormick has completed its acquisition of Reckitt Benckiser’s food division, which was announced in July.
FoodBev reported that McCormick would acquire brands including French’s mustard, Frank’s RedHot sauce and Cattlemen’s for $4.2 billion.
The unit made $179 million in pre-tax profit in 2016, but is largely periphery for consumer goods giant RB, which performs much stronger in domestic products and personal care. Net revenue for the year was $564 million.
The sale comes three-and-a-half months after RB announced that it would offload the business, in the face of more than £4 billion’s worth of debt and having committed almost $18 billion to acquire infant formula manufacturer Mead Johnson – a deal it said would ‘significantly strengthen’ its position in developing markets.
McCormick president and chief executive officer Lawrence E Kurzius said: “We are thrilled to acquire Frank’s RedHot, French’s and other iconic, market-leading brands, as we complete a transaction that has been at the top of our strategic list for over a decade and will generate significant shareholder value.
“McCormick is the perfect home for brands like Frank’s RedHot and French’s as their simple, clean ingredients make them liquid spice. The addition of these highly complementary brands will allow McCormick to continue to take advantage of the growing trend toward spicy, flavourful eating with natural, high-quality ingredients and advances our vision to ‘Bring the Joy of Flavor to Life’.
“The talented employees of RB Foods have built a great business, and we look forward to working with them to achieve continued success.”
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