Hain Celestial acquires remaining 51.3% stake in Hain Pure Protein

The Hain Celestial Group, a natural and organic products company, has acquired the remaining 51.3% o…

The Hain Celestial Group, a natural and organic products company, has acquired the remaining 51.3% of stake in Hain Pure Protein.

The purchase price of the stake was $40m.

Jay Lieberman, COO of Hain Pure Protein, will continue to be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company, which will be a separate operating segment of the company reporting to Irwin Simon.

With HPP's expertise in food service, Ted Maguire, senior vice president, sales of Hain Pure Protein will now be responsible for expanding Hain Celestial's products into the food service channel currently served by HPP.

Hain Pure Protein is an antibiotic-free and organic poultry company and offers a full range of fresh and frozen FreeBird chicken and Plainville Farms turkey and private label products in the US.

In fiscal year 2014, Hain Pure Protein is expected to generate over $230m in net sales, an increase of double digit compared to the previous year.

The company is also expected to be accretive to Hain Celestial's earnings in fiscal year 2015 by $0.03 to $0.05 per diluted share.

Hain Celestial president and CEO Irwin D. Simon said: "We are very excited about the strategic acquisition of HPP. Our joint venture has successfully grown from incubation to over $200 million in net sales by focusing on antibiotic-free and organic poultry."

"While we have enjoyed partnering with Pegasus for many years, having Freebird chicken and Plainville Farms turkey as part of Hain Celestial's branded product portfolio provides us with a wide array of Farm to Table product offerings from fresh to deli and food service in a growing category that appeals to those seeking "the pure foods trend", including our core natural and organic consumers," Simon added.