Findus Group has received approval from the Spanish Competition Authorities (la Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia) for the purchase without conditions of the La Cocinera frozen ready meal business from Nestlé Spain.
The deal, which will be financed from existing Findus cash flow, includes the La Cocinera brand and the factory where its meals are produced in Valladolid in northwest Spain.
La Cocinera manufactures a broad range of products, including tuna pots and fish, meat and vegetarian cannelloni and has a retail turnover of EUR 65 million (USD 69.8 million). Its factory has 170 employees.
Findus said it intends to develop the brand, which is already deeply rooted in the market.
“This is an important acquisition for Findus Group, which will more than double our retail sales in Spain, helping to achieve critical scale in this market and further our overall business strategy. La Cocinera is a well-regarded brand in Spain, with a 50-year heritage, a reputation for supplying high-quality food and clear market leadership in frozen ready meals,” said James Hill, chief executive of Findus.
Findus is market leader in Spain’s frozen vegetable market and Hill said the company expects to achieve “significant synergies” from integrating La Cocinera with its existing operations.
The acquisition provides Findus’ first production center for ready meals in Spain and will also allow Findus Southern Europe to reinforce its position in the ready-meals category in France, Spain and Belgium.
Findus southern Europe’s sales total EUR 300 million (USD 322 million) and the business unit is No. 1 in the French frozen food market and No. 3 in both Spain and Belgium.
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Findus is one of Europe’s leading seafood and frozen food businesses with a turnover in excess of EUR 1.4 billion (USD 1.5 million).
Last year, it achieved earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of GBP 91 million (EUR 127.7 million; USD 137.1 million), up 4 percent on the previous year on a constant currency basis.
