Italian food items team Newlat acquires branded provider Symington’s | Information

Relatives-owned Italian dairy and pasta team Newlat Meals has agreed a deal to buy Ragu and Rooster Tonight producer Symington’s.

The Grocer reported Yorkshire-based Symington’s had hired investment decision bank Houlihan Lokey to check out a sale early this 12 months following booming desire in the course of the Covid period boosted buying and selling.

Newlat, which experienced unsuccessfully sought to acquire bakery manufacturer Hovis in late 2020, announced these days it had agreed a deal to get the branded food and snack maker from current private fairness operator ICG.

Angelo Mastrolia, chairman of Newlat, commented: “Symington’s is an exciting business with higher probable for expansion and we deem it to be a great fit into our strategic program.

“We see a amount of synergies involving our firms as we equally develop complementary but distinct classes of products and solutions.”

Newlat produces milk and milk solutions, pasta and baked merchandise, gluten-absolutely free and protein-absolutely free products and solutions and babyfood.

Symington’s also operates in the ambient food items sector, with makes including Mug Shot, Bare, Twistd, The Hungry Elephant, Chicken Tonight and Ragu.

Mastrolia additional: “Not only will there be important price tag synergies but also, this acquisition allows us to enlarge and diversify our product or service range and our geographical arrive at. This prospect permits us to set foot into the Uk and as a result consolidate our placement in this incredibly pertinent sector.”

Symington’s has gone through a turnaround generate given that a restructuring of the group in 2016, which continued below present CEO David Cox, who joined in 2019.

Cox, a former manager at Fox’s Biscuits, earlier instructed The Grocer his ambition was to completely transform Symington’s into a worldwide player in ambient meals with a individual target on boosting its exports.

Cox stated these days: “Newlat would like to spend in our business and our models. It supplies extended-time period safety for our company with an intercontinental ambient and dairy food stuff player operating in mutually valuable types and is an remarkable time for us both equally.

“By bringing jointly both firms we can mix our strengths, speed up our expansion and raise our world wide footprint. Symington’s gives a robust springboard for Newlat’s makes into the United kingdom market place and Newlat gives us more alternatives to grow our manufacturers internationally where by Newlat has functions – in Italy and Germany.”

Symington’s has production and distribution centres unfold about two spots in Leeds (offices, warehouse and distribution, and a dry meals facility), 1 in Bradford (making croutons and bread treats) and yet another in Durham (a exclusive wet meals retort facility).

Symington’s documented an enhanced economic yr in the year to August 2020, with gross sales escalating 4.2{52b57ece99d8ad65266f7d1bf734f606b94a24ca6add8968b2fb1797b2130515} on the earlier calendar year to £114m and an 17.5{52b57ece99d8ad65266f7d1bf734f606b94a24ca6add8968b2fb1797b2130515} uplift in EBITDA to £9.6m as the ambient player benefited from stockpiling throughout the initial Covid lockdown.

Former owner ICG obtained the business in a £72m buyout in 2012.