Nomad Foods closes purchase of Findus Sverige for £500m

Nomad Foods has closed its acquisition of Findus Sverige and its subsidiaries from LionGem Sweden 1 AB for around £500m.

LionGem Sweden 1 AB has backing from a group of investors comprised of Highbridge Principal Strategies, Lion Capital and Sankaty Advisors.

As per the terms of the deal, Nomad Foods has acquired Findus Group’s continental European businesses in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Spain, and Belgium, in addition to the intellectual property and commercialisation rights to the Findus, Lutosa, and La Cocinera brands in their respective markets.

The acquired businesses have six facilities and employ around 1,500 people.

With this acquisition, Nomad has become a dominant player in the frozen food sector in western Europe.

The purchase unites Nomad’s existing Findus-branded business in Italy with other core markets, thereby bolstering its overall presence across Europe.

With the inclusion of the acquired Findus operations, Nomad currently employs over 4,300 people in 15 countries, and has ten factories that produce a wide range of products.

Nomad CEO Stéfan Descheemaeker said: "The complementary nature of our footprint and the strength of our combined brands across Europe significantly enhances Nomad’s scale and competitive offering.

"The Birdseye, Iglo, and Findus brands have played key roles in defining the frozen food category over the past decades, and together will be better positioned to continue bringing fresh and ‘better-for-you’ meal options to consumers across Europe."

Nomad co-founders and co-chairmen Noam Gottesman and Martin E Franklin jointly stated: "The closing of this acquisition demonstrates our ability to successfully execute against our defined strategy. Bringing these businesses together will yield substantial synergies, which we intend to re-invest in our ongoing growth and expansion

"As we work to build a best-in-class global consumer foods company, we are encouraged by the opportunity set and remain focused on creating value for all of our stakeholders."

Nomad raised £400m through a combination of existing cash on hand and a new senior-term loan.

LionGem Sweden 1 AB has been issued around 8.4 million ordinary shares in the capital of Nomad, which accounts for around 5% of the issued ordinary share capital of Nomad. LionGem Sweden 1 AB is, however, restricted from transferring any of the shares before 2 November 2016, as well as from transferring over 50% of the shares before 2 November 2017.

In June, Nomad was confirmed to have begun negotiations with Findus in order to purchase its continental European operations.

In 2013, Findus was at the centre of the horsemeat scandal, which hit the entire food industry.

It was found that some of its beef products contained 100% horsemeat, following which it was compelled to withdraw products from shelves, and agreed to conduct a complete review of its supply chain as mandated by the Food Standards Agency.

The company’s sales, however, recovered following this crisis and in 2014, it had issued a £200m bond.