Raisio Group sells Halo Foods to Nimbus

Finnish cereal producer Raisio Group has divested its UK-based Halo Foods snack bar business to Nimbus, a Dutch investment company.

Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

All 300 Halo Foods employees have been transferred to the new Nimbus payroll.

According to the acquisition agreement, Nimbus will take over the key assets of Halo Foods, including factories in Newport and Swindon, as well as the Dormen brand.

Raisio CEO Matti Rihko said: “For Raisio, it is important to expand the range of its branded products in line with consumer needs, not to produce itself all the products in the range.”

Rihko also added that Raisio will pull out from manufacturing of snack bars marketed to consumers under its partners' brands and focus on the development and marketing of proprietary branded products.

The company said that it will record a loss of approximately €19m due to the divestment of Halo Foods.

It also added that it will post a €1m loss due to restructuring costs related to the UK snack and cereal business in the second quarter EBIT.

Acquired by Raiso in 2010, Halo Foods is a contract manufacturer for its partners’ branded products.

It generated a €18m turnover during the first six months of this year.