Nomad Foods is Back on the Acquisitions Trail
Nomad Foods, Europe’s leading frozen foods company which was created following a series of major acquisition deals, is reported to have a €600 million war-chest at its disposal to fund further deals.
Nomad Holdings, a publicly listed acquisition company, initially purchased Iglo Foods, Europe’s largest frozen food business with iconic brands including Birds Eye in the UK and Ireland, Iglo in Germany and other continental European markets, and Findus in Italy, for €2.6 billion from private equity group Permira. The business subsequently changed its name to Nomad Foods.
Stefan Descheemaeker, chief executive of Nomad Foods.
Nomad Foods further extended its European footprint with the acquisition of Findus Group’s continental European businesses in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Spain and Belgium for £500 million. The remaining part of the Findus Group, including Young’s Seafood in the UK, was not part of the deal.
The acquisitions created a pan-European food business with operations in 17 countries. Nomad Foods reported revenue of €1.93 billion and after tax profits of €36.4 million for 2016.
Building on its anchor investment in Iglo Group, completed in June 2015, Nomad Foods’ goal is to develop a global consumer foods company. In addition to pursuing organic growth initiatives, Nomad Foods is also seeking strategic acquisitions to build a portfolio of best-in-class food companies and brands within existing and new categories.
Stefan Descheemaeker, chief executive of Nomad Foods, says: “The first two years were fully dedicated to making sure our fundamentals were sound. We’re starting to get there.”
Nomad Foods is expected to initially target complementary frozen food brands in Europe. “After that, the company might look at European non-frozen foods or non-European foods,” adds Stefan Descheemaeker.
