US – Olam Food Ingredients has announced that it is acquiring Olde Thompson, a leading US private label spices and seasonings manufacturer, at an enterprise value of US$950 million.
The company said the acquisition was made through its wholly owned subsidiary Olam Holdings Inc.
According to a statement by the Singapore based firm, the acquisition aligns with its vision and accelerates its growth strategy of delivering sustainable, natural, value-added food and beverage ingredients and solutions.
Established in 1944, Olde Thompson operates two highly automated bi-coastal facilities in Bayonne, New Jersey and Oxnard, California and has built a significant formulation, blending, packaging and distribution capacity to serve customers across the US.
The company has over the years benefited from increased penetration of private label in the spices and seasonings space, as well as the growing demand for healthy, natural, organic, clean-label spices, and ethnic savoury flavours.
It has also built long-term relationships with a diverse group of blue-chip retail customers across the club, mass, grocery, discount and dollar store channels.
Olde Thompson acquisition is therefore expected to bolster OFI’s spices business which it says and expands private label capabilities across the OFI portfolio.
“This transaction builds on our long 15-year partnership with Olde Thompson and is a logical move to combine our ‘back-end’ strengths in global origination and sustainable supply chains, with Olde Thompson’s ‘front-end’ capabilities in providing retail spice solutions to many major US retailers,” said OFI CEO A. Shekhar.
“Growing our offerings of private label solutions is right at the heart of OFI’s strategy – and within that spices is one of the most attractive and growing categories, especially in the US. This will enable us to offer consumers a comprehensive range of bold, authentic, natural taste and flavours with end-to-end traceability.”
The acquisition of the US food ingredients company is the first purchase that the Singapore based company is making after its parent company Olam International split last year into one business focused on food ingredients such as cocoa, coffee, nuts and spices, and another on bulk agricultural commodities such as grains and oilseeds.
Shekhar says that following its complete demerger, the company was also considering a listing next year to boost growth as it rides a wave of consumer interest in health, taste and sustainability.
London, Amsterdam and Zurich are among the exchanges under consideration, according to a report by Financial Times.
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