Major food packing group wraps up deal for Black Country manufacturer

Food processing and packaging company Hilton Food Group has announced it is to acquire Wednesbury meat products business HFR Food Solutions for an initial £100 that will eventually reach an estimated £3.3m.

HFR provides a range of meats, specialising in sous vide meat products. Sous vide is a method of cooking in which food is placed in a plastic pouch or a glass jar and cooked in a water bath for longer than normal cooking times.

Hilton said the acquisition enables it to enter the fast-growing sous vide market and leverage its expertise in procurement and manufacturing of meat products in a new segment with major retailers and food service customers.

The acquisition also diversifies the proteins supplied by Hilton in the UK as pork and poultry represent a significant proportion of HFR’s output.

The price for the acquisition is structured so that £100 is paid on completion with the remainder payable within three years.

The deferred consideration will be calculated by subtracting the net debt of HFR from its enterprise value with each metric calculated at February 2022.

It is estimated that the actual deferred consideration payable will be £3.3m.

Hilton will provide a secured loan of £2.75m to HFR on completion to finance the company.

Hilton executive chairman Robert Watson said: “This acquisition represents an exciting opportunity for Hilton to broaden its offering in a fast-growing segment of the market and meet our customers’ demands for Hilton to supply them with a range of innovative, high quality sous vide products.”

HFR director Graham Heffer added: “We are pleased with Hilton’s acquisition of HFR as it will enable the business to benefit from Hilton’s expertise, improve its operations and continue to focus on giving our customers the right products at competitive prices.”