News

Greencore to acquire Peacock

17 Nov 2016

Greencore is to acquire Peacock Foods, a US convenience food manufacturer said to have strong positions in frozen breakfast sandwiches, kids’ chilled meal kits and salad kits, for $747.5 million (£594.3 million).

Greencore to acquire Peacock

International convenience food business Greencore is to acquire Peacock Foods for $747.5 million (£594.3 million).

Peacock is a US convenience food manufacturer said to have strong positions in frozen breakfast sandwiches, kids’ chilled meal kits and salad kits, generating revenues of approximately $1 billion and Adjusted EBITDA of $72.1 million in the year to September 2016.

Greencore said that the combined business has the potential to transform its market and channel position in the US and create a strong platform for long term profitable growth. It expects that the acquisition will significantly enhance earnings and targeted return ahead of cost of capital from first full year of ownership

“The acquisition of Peacock will transform our US business, strengthen our position in high growth categories, broaden our channel and customer exposure, and add significant scale to our operations,” said Greencore’s CEO, Patrick Coveney. “We believe Peacock’s success is built on the same fundamental strategy and values that drive Greencore, making products that consumers love, building deep,longstanding relationships with customers, investing in high quality manufacturing capacity, food safety capability and, most importantly, people. We are delighted to welcome the Peacock team into the Greencore Group.”

“We are thrilled to be joining the Greencore team at this important time in our growth,” said Tom Sampson, Peacock Foods CEO. “We have been particularly struck by the similarities in the way we run our business and our mutual long-term commitment to the US convenience food market. We are excited by the opportunity that we now have to leverage Greencore’s expertise in innovation and fresh food manufacturing, thereby bringing a broader set of capabilities to our customers.”