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(Alliance News) - Convenience foods producer Greencore Group PLC on Tuesday said it has completed the acquisition of ready-to-eat salads and chilled snacks producer Freshtime UK Ltd.
Greencore, which already distributes a large proportion of Freshtime's products, said the acquisition comes with an enterprise value of GBP56.0 million and will be funded by existing debt facilities.
In 2018, Freshtime - based in Boston, Lincolnshire - generated revenue of GBP66.0 million and a pretax profit of GBP5.6 million, Greencore added.
Looking ahead, the FTSE 250-listed firm said the acquisition will have a neutral effect on earnings in the year ending September 2019. It will however gradually increase the company's earnings in financial 2020.
Chief Executive Patrick Coveney 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.
Shares in Greencore were 0.5% higher at 211.00 pence each in London early on Tuesday morning.
