Canadian organic food company SunOpta has completed the acquisition of Sunrise Holdings from investor group led by Paine & Partners for $444m, as part of its strategy to expand its portfolio of frozen fruit and fruit ingredient processing operations.
The agreement is inclusive of certain purchase price adjustments. The acquisition is expected to create operational efficiencies by leveraging strengths of both companies.
For financing the acquisition, SunOpta offered $100m of common shares issued on 30 September, along with a $330m second lien loan which was closed alongside the closing of the acquisition. SunOpta also made some borrowings under its credit facilities in North America.
SunOpta president and CEO Rik Jacobs said:"We believe the acquisition of Sunrise Growers is transformative for our company as it provides us with the leading market position in conventional non-GMO and organic IQF fruit in the United States, and is expected to enhance our product mix, increase our revenue growth and margin profile, provide multiple synergy opportunities and leverage our strategic focus on integrated consumer products.
"The addition of Sunrise Growers further expands our integrated consumer products segment which is focused on three key platforms: healthy fruit, healthy beverages and healthy snacks. We are excited to have the team from Sunrise join SunOpta and they will take a leadership role in the integration and development of our healthy fruit platform."
Sunrise Growers is a processor of conventional and organic quick frozen fruit in the US. The company offers an array of frozen fruit products in different kinds of packaging formats for retail and foodservice industries.
The company's processing facilities are situated in California, Kansas and Mexico, with 300 permanent and 2000 seasonal employees.
SunOpta specializes in manufacturing, sourcing, and processing of organic, non-genetically modified (non-GMO) and specialty foods integrated from seed through packaged products. The company's organic and non-GMO operations include value-added grain, seed, fruit and vegetable based product offerings.
The latest takeover by SunOpta follows its acquisition of Canadian organic fruit snacks maker Niagara Natural Fruit Snack in August in order to expand its presence in Canad.
