Diamond Foods acquires Kettle chip company
26 February 2010 10:03
Snack foods group Diamond Foods has announced that it is to acquire Kettle Foods from Lion Capital LLP for $615 million in cash.
The agreement includes Kettle's operations in the US and the UK.
"Kettle Foods' passion for making great tasting, natural potato chips has attracted a loyal consumer following and shaped a truly premium brand that has our deep respect," said, Michael J. Mendes, chairman, president and CEO of Diamond Foods.
"Diamond and Kettle Foods share a history of relentless focus on flavour and product quality and working collaboratively with our retail partners. By adding Kettle, including its talented team of employees, our snack business will have greater scale, which will help us to drive even greater innovation in the snack market. We expect that the acquisition will be accretive in the first year and is a strong, strategic fit to better support our long-term growth plans."
Lyndon Lea, partner of Lion Capital, said, "We are pleased to be selling this iconic brand and highly strategic asset to Diamond Foods, whose heritage of delivering the consumer premium snacking products and market-leading innovation complements the core tenets of Kettle Foods".
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