Premier Foods offloads Quorn
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Premier Foods has sold its meat free brand Quorn to a private equity firm for £205m.
Quorn and sister brand Cauldron have been bought by Exponent Private Equity and Intermediate Capital Group, following months of speculation which connected manufacturers including Nestlé to a possible deal.
The food manufacturer, which also owns the Bisto, Mr Kipling and Hovis brands, is currently looking to reduce its £1.4bn debt.
Robert Schofield, Premier Foods chief executive, says: “It makes a significant contribution to reducing our debt. It will also enable the business to focus further on building our current portfolio of great British brands.”
Premier Foods, acquired Quorn from Marlow Foods in 2005. For the year ending 31 December, its meat-free division recorded revenue of £128.8m and trading profit of £16.2m.
Premier Foods recently restructured its senior management team creating the company’s first group chief operating officer. Its aim is to align the structure more closely with its corporate strategy.
Tim Kelly and Jon Goldstone, former Hovis chief operating officer and marketing director respectively, took on the company’s first group chief operating officer and group marketing director roles this month.
Quorn launched a £4.2m advertising campaign showcasing the health credentials of the brand at the start of the year.
YouGov Insight:
The Ethical Consumer
· 7 out of 10 shoppers say they like shopping with companies who ‘visibly give something back to society’
· 81% of UK consumers say that they do not like buying products from companies they disapprove of.
· Only 30% say they manage to buy solely from companies that conform to their ethical standards
· Half of UK consumers say that they would like to buy from companies that have a strong Corporate Social Responsibility programme in place.
· 61% of consumers say they hear a lot about Corporate Social Responsibility but ‘nothing of any substance’
Click herefor more information on this YouGov market report
