Greencore to acquire Marketfare Foods

Irish food company Greencore has agreed to acquire Marketfare Foods, a manufacturer of food-to-go products for convenience and small stores in the US, for $36m.

The acquisition is part of Greencore’s strategy to strengthen its presence in the US, where its sales represent 5% of the overall company revenue.

According to Greencore, the business is being acquired on a debt-free, cash-free basis with a normalised level of working capital.

The transaction will be funded from Greencore’s existing debt facilities and the company expects the acquisition to be modestly earnings accretive from the first financial year of ownership.

Greencore will take over two of Marketfare’s production facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Greencore chief executive officer Patrick Coveney said the acquisition represents an excellent opportunity to further develop the company’s food-to-go business in the US.

"It builds additional scale with 7-Eleven, provides new competencies for us in the fast growing food to go category and extends our geographic footprint principally along the Eastern seaboard," Coveney added.

Marketfare Foods, based in Phoenix, Arizona, supplies branded, proprietary and co-pack sandwiches, wraps, burritos, sauces and specialty foods to a variety of trade channels including convenience, vending, club, grocery, drug and food service.

The company is a major supplier to 7-Eleven convenience stores, supplying Fresh to Go and 7-Smart store-branded sandwiches to 1,100 7-Eleven stores in the Mid-Atlantic US region as well as Casa Buena Cheese and Chili sauces for the entire 7-Eleven chain in the US and Canada.

This acquisition follows Greencore’s purchase of On A Roll Sales, a US-based manufacturer of fresh sandwiches, in December 2010.

Greencore, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a leading sandwich and ready meals supplier in the UK, supplying to supermarket chains including Marks and Spencer, Asda, Wm Morrison, Waitrose and J Sainsbury.

 

Image: With the acquisition of Marketfare Foods, Greencore expects to strenghten its presence in the US. Photo: Greencore Group