Ralcorp acquires Italian ready meals producer Gelit

Ralcorp has completed the acquisition of Gelit, an Italian producer of frozen ready meals and pasta, for an undisclosed amount.

Ralcorp president and CEO Kevin J Hunt said the acquisition strengthens the company’s position as a diversified provider of private-brand foods and will also provide benefits to its pasta business.

The firm expects the deal to add $0.07 a share to its adjusted earnings in the first 12 months of ownership, excluding one-time costs.

With the acquisition, Gelit will operate as part of Ralcorp’s American Italian Pasta division, a leading producer of dry pasta in North America, which supplies private label and store brand dry pasta from four manufacturing plants in the US and Italy.

Gelit, which has annual revenues of $45m, manufactures and distributes a complete line of private-brand frozen ready meals for retail and wholesale customers primarily located in Italy and the US.

Its product range also includes pasta, frozen pancakes, sauces, meat and fish varieties, and traditional crepe entrees and the company has a production plant in Cisterna di Latina, Italy.

Ralcorp is seeking to strengthen its private label business after it completed the separation of its Post Foods cereal unit in February 2012.

As part of this strategy, the company already acquired Petri Baking Products, a US-based producer of private-brand wire-cut cookies, in May 2012 to boost its cookie product offerings.