# Greencore Group Acquisition of Freshtime will help drive growth and value for shareholders

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/greencore-group-acquisition-of-freshtime-will-help-drive-growth-and-value-for-shareholders/412791801
- Published: 2019-09-03T07:28:15+01:00
- Author: Amilia Stone

Greencore Group plc (LON:GNC), a leading manufacturer of convenience foods in the
UK, has today announced that it has today completed the acquisition of Freshtime
UK Limited.

Freshtime is a well-established supplier of food to go salads, chilled snacks and
prepared produce in the UK. Its products are distributed primarily in the grocery
and convenience channels and the business operates from a single facility in Boston,
Lincolnshire. In the 12 months ended December 2018^(1), Freshtime generated revenues
of £66.0m and profit before tax of £5.6m. Gross assets at 31 December 2018 were 
£22.0m.

The acquired business will extend Greencore’s presence in food to go salads and 
chilled snacking and Freshtime’s strong customer base is highly complementary to
the Group’s existing portfolio. Freshtime’s production facility is well invested,
with an established local supply chain and capacity for future growth. The Group
already distributes a large proportion of Freshtime’s products through its Direct
to Store network, reflected as revenue from the distribution of third party products.

Total consideration for the acquisition comprises an enterprise value of £56.0m,
cash on the acquired balance sheet and a normalised level of working capital. This
will be funded from existing debt facilities and the Group expects to remain within
its medium term leverage range^(2)following the acquisition.  The transaction is
expected to be neutral to earnings in FY19 and modestly accretive in FY20.

Greencore has acquired the whole of the issued share capital of The Bay Group Limited,
parent company of Freshtime UK Limited, from Mr. John Curran Mills Richmond. 

> **Commenting on the transaction, Patrick Coveney, CEO of Greencore, said**:
> “Freshtime is an excellent strategic fit for Greencore. It is a business and a
> customer set that we know very well and it provides us with an exciting opportunity
> to enhance our product offering, add further capacity to our manufacturing network,
> and help drive growth and value for shareholders. We look forward very much to
> welcoming the Freshtime team to Greencore.”

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