Ireland’s Greencore sells US unit for US$1bn

The Irish food manufacturer, Greencore, has announced the sale of its US operations for US$1.075bn.

The firm will sell its US business to an affiliate of Hearthside Food Solutions, who made an “unsolicited approach” to acquire the operations in August, according to the firm’s CEO, Patrick Coveney.

The CEO claims that Greencore had no previous intentions to sell the unit, and had even begun to implementing strategy to turn the business around following its 2017 results.

However, Hearthside offered an “incredibly high price for a business of this type” Coveney added, claims the Telegraph.

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The FTSE 250-listed company’s US business features customers such as Starbucks and 7-Eleven.

The firm produces food items such as sandwiches, sushi, and salads, and in 2017 it acquired Peacock for $747.5mn, adding frozen breakfast sandwiches and snack kits to its cannon.

“We have always had a firm conviction on the underlying value and growth prospects of our US business and believe that this offer fully reflects that,” Coveny informed Reuters.

“The proposed transaction would enhance our strategic and financial flexibility, which would allow us to build on our industry-leading position in our core UK market whilst also taking advantage of emerging organic and inorganic growth opportunities.”