Yorkshire pudding brand Aunt Bessie's to be acquired by Birds Eye owner in £210m deal

Frozen food brand Aunt Bessie’s is to be acquired by Nomad Foods Limited in a £210m deal.

Nomad Foods is buying the company known for its frozen Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes from William Jackson & Son Limited, which is based in Hessle.

Aunt Bessie’s manufactures, distributes and sells a range of branded frozen food products.

As part of the deal, Nomad Foods will take control of a production facility in Hull.

This acquisition will also bring Aunt Bessie’s together with Nomad Food’s Birds Eye and the recently acquired the frozen pizza brand Goodfella’s.

Nomad said that all 400 of Aunt Bessie’s staff would transfer to Birds Eye when the deal is completed during the autumn.

Stefan Descheemaeker, Nomad Foods’ CEO, said: “We are excited to welcome Aunt Bessie’s to Nomad Foods. Aunt Bessie’s iconic brand, positive values and strong product credentials align well with our existing portfolio.

“As our second accretive acquisition in 2018, Aunt Bessie’s represents another step toward our goal of transforming the frozen food category and building a portfolio of best-in-class food brands.

“Aunt Bessie’s significantly expands our presence within potatoes, one of the largest categories in frozen food, while adding another dimension to our growing portfolio in the United Kingdom.”

Noam Gottesman, Nomad Foods’ co-chairman and founder, commented: “The acquisition of Aunt Bessie’s illustrates the power of our value creation model which is fueled by organic revenue growth, strong free cash flow and disciplined M&A.

“Similar to Goodfella’s Pizza, which we acquired earlier this year, Aunt Bessie’s is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings while providing complementary category exposure, synergy opportunities and new avenues for growth.

“We look forward to welcoming the Aunt Bessie’s team to our organization and working together to build on their success.”

Aunt Bessie’s generated revenues and adjusted EBITDA of approximately €123m (£108m) and €23m (#20.2m), for the year ending April 2018.

Credit Suisse acted as financial advisor and Norton Rose Fulbright acted as legal advisor to Nomad Foods on the transaction.

Stamford Partners acted as financial advisor and Addleshaw Goddard acted as legal advisor to William Jackson & Son on the transaction.

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →