Lassonde Industries acquires fruit-based snacks manufacturer Sun-Rype

Canada-based Lassonde Industries has acquired fruit-based snacks manufacturer Sun-Rype Products and its two affiliated companies in the US for C$89.3m ($68.7m).

The deal was announced in October last year when two Lassonde Industries subsidiaries entered an agreement with subsidiaries of the Jim Pattison Group to acquire Sun-Rype Products.

Established in 1946, Sun-Rype has been producing fruit snacks and juices at its Kelowna facility in British Columbia.

Sun-Rype operates two other facilities in the US, which are located in Selah and Wapato, Washington. It has a total workforce of nearly 400 people.

It sells its fruit-based snacks in the US under the Sun-Rype, Fruit to Go, FruitSource and Good Bites brands and its ready-to-drink fruit-based juices and drinks under the Sun-Rype brand.

Lassonde Industries CEO Nathalie Lassonde said: “We are delighted to welcome Sun-Rype’s employees to the Lassonde team.

“Both of our organisations have an excellent reputation in the market and a great tradition of innovation and service quality in fruit juice and food processing. We are pleased to be able to pursue our growth together.”

Lassonde will pay C$9.3m ($7.1m) towards preliminary working capital adjustments, as well as other adjustments.

It also assumed C$21m ($16.1m) in liabilities related to long-term leases for the facilities located in Kelowna (BC), Selah and Wapato (WA). Lassonde used its existing credit facility to fund the acquisition.

The deal is set to strengthen Lassonde’s manufacturing footprint in western Canada, as well as in the north-western US.

Lassonde anticipates that the deal will improve the commercial network of both companies, improving support to national retailers throughout Canada.