Jamaica’s Grace Kennedy continues its overseas expansion in what it says is a continuation of its strategy of becoming a Global Consumer Group. The company through one of its subsidiaries entered into an agreement to purchase the operating assets and business of La Fe Foods Inc., including its brand.
La Fe is said to be the top Hispanic Brand in the frozen food category in Northeast USA. The company was established in 1968 and currently has revenues of approximately US$80 million. Grace expects the acquired business will be the platform for the growth of Grace Kennedy’s North American business going forward. The purchase price is US$26 million.
This acquisition is a major step in achieving our vision of being a Global Consumer Group,” said Grace Kennedy Group CEO, Don Wehby. “La Fe was attractive to us for several reasons, including its distribution channels across the East Coast USA and its strong relationships with blue-chip retailers across the US. The company has operations in Moonachie, New Jersey; Miami, Florida and Raleigh, North Carolina, with brand and distribution presence in the New York/Tri-state area, Florida, Georgia and the East Coast. Our international business started with the Jamaican diaspora. We have served them proudly for a very long time, and we will now be able to serve them even better while catering to a new market for Grace Kennedy as well. We are very excited about this acquisition, which we anticipate will be a serious game-changer for our Food Distribution Network,” he said.
The La Fe transaction is the second major acquisition for Grace Kennedy outside of Jamaica for the Foods Division with the first being the acquisition of WT Foods (now Grace Foods UK) in the UK in 2007. Grace Foods UK has shown improved profits and revenue since the 2007 acquisition.
The acquisition comes on the heels of Grace finalising the divestment of a part of its financial arm, to Proven Investments for US$18.6 million or J$2.05 billion for
.
[…] and providing assistance to our local raw material suppliers.” Elsewhere, the acquisition of Le Foods is expected to start the full marketing of the Grace products in 2015, which is expected to deliver […]