McCormick has agreed to acquire all of the shares in Italian flavour manufacturer Enrico Giotti for approximately €120 million.
The Florence-based company is best known for its innovative beverage, sweet, savoury and dairy flavour applications, and reported annual sales of about €53 million in its last returns.
The deal for Giotti is worth €120m.
The acquisition will allow McCormick to expand the breadth of value-added products in its industrial segment, including additional expertise in flavouring health and nutrition products. The deal, which is still subject to certain closing adjustments, will be funded entirely by cash and is expected to represent roughly 12 times Giotti’s pre-tax earnings, McCormick said.
According to McCormick’s president and CEO, Giotti is an ‘important step’ in carrying out its growth strategy in the region, which, last year, led to the addition of Italian spice and seasoning company Drogheria & Alimentari for €85 million.
Lawrence E Kurzius continued: “McCormick is a leading flavour supplier to packaged food companies and multi-national restaurants, and this acquisition expands the breadth of our value-added flavor solutions in Europe with strong and innovative R&D capabilities. With this acquisition, we add greater scale to our already substantial industrial segment business in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.”
Giotti is an ‘important step’ in carrying out McCormick’s European expansion plans
Malcolm Swift, president of global industrial and international business for McCormick, added: “We anticipate strong growth driven by Giotti’s expertise in the high-growth health and nutrition segment. The owners and employees of Giotti share with McCormick a great history and commitment to innovation and quality, and we look forward to working with them to achieve continued success.”
The deal will be completed at some point in December.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024