Greencore to acquire Marketfare Foods for $36m
Irish food company Greencore has entered into an agreement to acquire Marketfare Foods, a leading m…Irish food company Greencore has entered into an agreement to acquire Marketfare Foods, a leading manufacturer of food-to-go products for convenience and small stores in the US, for $36m.
The acquisition is a part of Greencore's strategy to further develop its food-to-go business in the US.
Marketfare Foods principal customer is 7-Eleven, which it has partnered for over 20 years. The company is the largest single supplier of Fresh to Go and 7-Smart store-branded sandwiches, servicing over 1,100 7-Eleven stores in the Mid-Atlantic region.
In addition, Marketfare Foods is an exclusive manufacturer of Casa Buena Cheese and Chili sauces for the entire 7-Eleven chain in the US and Canada. For the year ended 27 January 2012, Marketfare reported revenue of $65m, while EBITDA was $5.7m.
The consideration of $36m is on a debt-free, cash-free basis with a normalised level of working capital. Greencore plans to fund the transaction from existing debt facilities.
The transaction is expected to complete on 18 April. According to Greencore, the acquisition is expected to be modestly earnings accretive from the first financial year of ownership.
Greencore is a leading sandwich and ready meals supplier in Britain. It manufactures 200 million sandwiches annually, and supplies to supermarket chains including Marks and Spencer, Asda, Wm Morrison, Waitrose and J Sainsbury.
