Nomad Holdings in early talks to acquire Findus Group’s continental Europe business

Nomad Holdings, which has the backing of billionaire Bill Ackman, is in early talks regarding the acquisition of Findus Group’s continental Europe business, and its Findus Brand.

This latest acquisition will closely follow Nomad’s $2.9bn acquisition of Iglo Foods Holdings, which specialises in producing Birds Eye frozen vegetables.

With both these companies, Nomad will be able to create an entity that will manufacture products including fish fingers, peas and microwavable lasagna, reported Bloomberg.

The company did not reveal the potential value of the deal.

Hedge fund Lion Capital, Highbridge Capital Management and JP Morgan Chase currently owns Findus. Ackman owns more than 20% of the company through his Pershing Square Capital Management LP fund.

Nomad, however, said that there was no guarantee it would go through with the deal.

Following its acquisition of Iglo, Nomad’s CEO Stefan Descheemaeker was quoted by Reuters as saying that it was exploring more deals in the frozen food industry.

"It’s a fragmented industry. We know there is value in being a consolidator."

According to data compiled by Nomad, the company raised $485m from an initial public offering in April last year to fund acquisitions in the food and beverage industry.

Findus Group is considered to be one of Europe’s largest frozen food and seafood companies, that employs around 6,000 people and has a turnover of over £1bn.