Irish food company Greencore Group has announced the proposed acquisition of Peacock Foods for $747.5m to expand its presence in the US.
The US based Peacock Foods is headquartered in Geneva, Illinois and is into producing frozen breakfast sandwiches, chilled meal kits for kids and salad kits.
Through Peacock acquisition, Greencore said that it will enhance its operating capacity with a wider geographic reach.
It also expects to create a network that will be five times its present US operations by the addition of what it says are seven well-invested scale sites of Peacock.
Greencore CEO Patrick Coveney said: “We believe Peacock’s success is built on the same fundamental strategy and values that drive Greencore, making products that consumers love, building deep, longstanding relationships with customers, investing in high quality manufacturing capacity, food safety capability and, most importantly, people.”
Greencore has proposed that it will create a new US subsidiary post acquisition which will be led by Chris Kirke, CEO of its current US division.
Peacock Foods CEO Tom Sampson said: “We have been particularly struck by the similarities in the way we run our business and our mutual long-term commitment to the US convenience food market."
Sampson further said that Peacock can utilize Greencore’s expertise in innovation and manufacturing of fresh food which would result in a broader set of capabilities to customers.
He would become the senior advisor to Greencore after the acquisition. Samspon would manage customer transition and integration over the next couple of years.
The new management team will comprise a mix of both Greencore’s and Peacock’s existing senior management teams.