British frozen food and seafood supplier Findus has received an approval from the Spanish Competition Authorities for the acquisition of Nestlé Spain’s La Cocinera frozen ready to eat meals business.
Earlier this year, Nestlé Spain signed an agreement to divest its business to Findus Spain.
Under this deal, Findus will purchase the La Cocinera brand, which has a retail turnover of around €65m and its Valladolid factory, where frozen culinary products are produced.
Findus Group chief executive James Hill was quoted by FIS as saying: "This is an important acquisition for Findus Group, which will more than double our retail sales in Spain, helping to achieve critical scale in this market and further our overall business strategy.
"Findus already has a market leadership position in frozen vegetables in Spain and this acquisition will increase our presence in the growing Spanish frozen ready meal market. "
The La Cocinera brand currently offers a range of frozen ready meals cannelloni, croquettes and chicken nuggets, amongst others.
However, Nestlé will retain chilled dough products such as obleas, puff pastry and pie dough which are sold under La Cocinera brand.
The acquisition of this factory, which will be Findus' first production centre for ready meals in Spain, will expand its existing more than 15 production plants.
Image: Findus Group operates seafood and frozen food businesses with a turnover of more than €1.4bn. Photo: courtesy of tiverylucky/ freedigitalphotos.net.
