Nomad Foods Ltd.’s purchase of the continental European operations of Findus could be finalized early next month after an agreement was reached with employee representatives in France.
The frozen foods acquisition group announced that a collective agreement had been signed between the Findus France Central Works Council and representatives of Findus France following a meeting on 29 September in Paris, also attended by representatives from Nomad Foods.
It expects that the formal opinion with respect to the transaction will be received from the Findus France Central Works Council on or around 22 October 2015 and that the transaction will close in early November, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
"We are delighted that a constructive agreement has been reached with the Works Council. This key milestone places us on track to complete the acquisition of the Findus continental European business in the coming weeks and also demonstrates our confidence in and commitment to the long-term success of the Findus business in France,” said Stéfan Descheemaeker, CEO of Nomad.
“We are excited to move one step closer towards bringing our highly complementary businesses together and towards building a diverse and leading consumer foods company. I am confident that as we execute on our growth strategy we will bring greater choices to consumers and create value for all of our stakeholders."
Steven Libermann, CEO of Findus Southern Europe, said, "Findus France employees can be satisfied by the commitments made by Nomad Foods for the long-term future of our business and our loyal customers can be reassured that they will keep enjoying locally made Findus products.”
In August, Nomad said it would buy the continental European business from Findus Sverige AB for around GBP 500 million (EUR 676.6 million; USD 758.3 million) in a cash and shares deal, with GBP 400 million (EUR 541.3 million; USD 606.7 million) to be paid in cash and the remaining consideration to be met by the issue of 8.4 million shares.
The business includes operations in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Spain and Belgium, but the deal does not include Findus' Young's Seafood Ltd. brand in the United Kingdom.
Nomad is the owner of Iglo Foods, the owner of the Birds Eye frozen foods brand, which it acquired for EUR 2.6 billion (USD 2.9 billion) in June before then floating on the London stock market.
The new acquisition will add the commercial rights for the Findus, Lutosa and La Cocinera brands to its portfolio. Through Iglo, the group already operates the Findus brand in Italy.
