Nomad Foods to acquire Aunt Bessie’s in a £210m deal

Nomad Foods has agreed a deal to acquire the Aunt Bessie’s frozen food brand from William Jackson & Son Limited for approximately £210 million.

Aunt Bessie’s manufactures, distributes and sells a range of branded frozen food products in the UK, most notably Yorkshire puddings and frozen potatoes.

This acquisition further strengthens Nomad Foods’ position in the UK frozen food segment, as the company also owns frozen food brand Bird Eye and also acquired the Goodfella’s Pizza brand earlier this year.

A manufacturing facility in Hull, England will be included in the transaction, as well as Aunt Bessie’s entire product portfolio.

Nomad Foods estimates that the transaction will close during the third quarter of 2018, provided the deal receives regulatory approval.

Stefan Descheemaeker, Nomad Foods’ CEO said: “We are excited to welcome Aunt Bessie’s to Nomad Foods.

“Aunt Bessie’s iconic brand, positive values and strong product credentials align well with our existing portfolio. As our second accretive acquisition in 2018, Aunt Bessie’s represents another step toward our goal of transforming the frozen food category and building a portfolio of best-in-class food brands.

“Aunt Bessie’s significantly expands our presence within potatoes, one of the largest categories in frozen food, while adding another dimension to our growing portfolio in the United Kingdom.”

Noam Gottesman, Nomad Foods’ co-chairman and founder added: “The acquisition of Aunt Bessie’s illustrates the power of our value creation model which is fueled by organic revenue growth, strong free cash flow and disciplined M&A.

“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 organization and working together to build on their success.”