Nomad Foods has entered into exclusive negotiations to purchase the Zagreb, Croatia-headquartered Fortenova Group’s Frozen Food Business Group (FFBG), which includes Frikom, Ledo, and other leading frozen brands.
This prospective transaction is aligned with the Feltham, England-based company’s strategy of complementing strong organic growth in the base business with the acquisition of market leading frozen food brands across Europe.
FFBG has a leading European frozen food portfolio of iconic local brands with strong consumer awareness in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and several other countries in Southeastern Europe. It is the market leader in these regions where it operates across numerous categories including vegetables, fruits, ice cream, pastry, fish and ready meals.
The Fortenova Group, as successor to the collapsed Agrokor agribusiness and retail trade conglomerate, began inviting selected bidders to begin due diligence analysis of its frozen food units last November to reduce debt and concentrate driving growth in other areas.
Ledo is the largest manufacturer and distributor of ice cream and frozen food in Croatia. Its factory features state-of-the-art equipment and technology for the production of ice cream cones, popsicles and various other products offered in an extensive range of flavors.
The acquisition of FFBG would extend Nomad’s portfolio into new and developing European markets while also creating a beachhead for potential future consolidation within Central and Eastern Europe.
These discussions are preliminary and there can be no assurance that a transaction will be completed. The company does not intend to provide further updates unless there is a definitive outcome to the discussions.
Nomad Foods ranks as Europe’s leading frozen foods company. Among its extensive range of retail brands are Birds Eye, Findus, iglo, Aunt Bessie’s and Goodfella’s.
