Kraft Heinz has agreed to acquire Turkish sauce company Assan Foods from Kibar Holding in a deal that values Assan at approximately $100 million.
Headquartered in Istanbul, Assan Foods manufactures and sells a wide range of sauce products such as ketchup, mayonnaise, pasta sauces and more. Assan’s sauce products are sold under brands including Colorado, Kingtom, and Oba.
Assan Foods has acted as a certified production partner for Kraft Heinz since 2019, operating manufacturing facilities in Balikesir and Izmir in Turkey. The company employs approximately 400 workers and exports its products to around 50 countries.
A statement from Kraft Heinz claims that the purchase of Assan provides Kraft with the opportunity to further expand its retail and foodservice business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval, and is expected to close in the second half of 2021.
Rafael Oliveira, international zone president at Kraft Heinz, said: “This is a great opportunity to accelerate our international growth strategy centred on taste elevation.
“We believe Assan Foods is a high-performance organisation that brings best-in-class local innovation and production of sauces and tomato products, as well as a significant distribution network in the fast-growing foodservice channel, enabling us to further build our scale and agility by expanding the Heinz brand in Turkey, as well as our International Taste Elevation platform more broadly.”
The agreed purchase of Assan comes just a week after Kraft Heinz announced plans to invest £140 million in its Kitt Green food manufacturing facility in the UK, further enhancing its international manufacturing operations.
The company stated that the proposed investment would be its largest in more than two decades in an existing manufacturing site outside of the US. The planned investment aims to fund updated manufacturing equipment and technology, helping the site to reduce its CO2 footprint.
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