Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd (“SBF”) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its Cerebos Food & Instant Coffee business in Australia, New Zealand and Asian Home Gourmet Singapore to The Kraft Heinz Company.
The sale agreement does not include the Cerebos Fresh Coffee business in Australia/New Zealand, which SBF will retain and will form part of a new business unit focused on capturing a larger share of the rapidly growing global fresh coffee market.
The total consideration of the transaction is A$290 million and the sale is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018, subject to regulatory approvals.
Cerebos’ Food & Instant Coffee business includes iconic food brands in Australia and New Zealand such as Fountain, Gravox, Saxa, Foster Clark’s, Gregg’s, Bisto, Raro and Asian Home Gourmet.
The business has market-leading brands across a number of categories including sauces, gravies, herbs & spices, salt, condiments, Asian sauces, desserts and cooking ingredients.
The Kraft Heinz Company is the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world and is a globally trusted producer of food products.
The company has a strong platform in Australia and New Zealand, with a staple of well-known brands such as Heinz, Kraft, Wattie’s, Eta and Golden Circle in categories including beans & spaghetti, sauces, soups, sauces & dressings and many others.
Bruno Lino, CEO of Kraft Heinz Australia and New Zealand, who will lead the combined business, said: “The transaction provides an exciting opportunity for Kraft Heinz to expand its portfolio into complementary categories, stretching the footprint of Cerebos’ brands into new categories and markets.”
“In addition to the iconic local brands, Cerebos has a strong team that will play an important role in our future growth. This transaction reinforces our commitment and long-term plan to the Australia and New Zealand markets in addition to our significant investment in the Kraft brand for 2018. We will continue investing in our brands, factories and our employees to meet consumer needs and expectations,” he said.
Terry Svenson, CEO of Cerebos Australia/New Zealand, said the company was pleased with the outcome of the transaction.
“As we announced in April 2017, the Food & Instant Coffee business has a number of market-leading brands across Australia and New Zealand and has made significant progress in recent years, particularly in relation to improvements in manufacturing efficiency. However, Food & Instant Coffee is not a core focus category for SBF and we believe this business can be maximised under different ownership. The Food & Instant Coffee business will now have opportunities to leverage Kraft Heinz’s operations to grow the business further.
“In the meantime, the transaction also enables our Fresh Coffee business, to benefit from SBF’s continued investment and focus on its beverage portfolio, so we can capitalise on our market leading positions to maximise growth opportunities,” he said.
Mr Svenson will lead the new Fresh Coffee business as CEO.
The sale agreement does not impact SBF’s other businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
