Cheshire food ingredients firm swallowed by Scandinavian group

Claire Frangou

Scandinavian vegetable oils and fats group AAK has acquired a majority stake in Cheshire company Soya International, for an undisclosed sum.

Based in Hale, Soya International is a food ingredients supplier which has been acquired AAK’s ingredients portfolio with a product range critial to many of its customers.

AAK has acquired 80% of Soya International (Europe) Ltd.

The firm focuses on the sourcing, processing and distribution of non-GMO semi-speciality and speciality lecithins.

Lecithin is a natural emulsifier and a by-product from the processing of vegetable oils.

“Lecithin is a key ingredient for many customers within our core segments, especially chocolate and confectionery fats and bakery, but also dairy, special nutrition, and personal care,” said Johan Westman, AAK president and chief executive.

“By expanding our portfolio with this value-adding ingredient, we will further enhance our co-development capabilities and be able to create even better solutions in close collaboration with our customers globally,” he added.

Soya International was founded in 1996 by brothers Sonny and Sonu Arora.

It has a third-party processing facility in the Netherlands and holds well-established relationships with customers and distributors in 40 markets globally.

The company last year achieved a turnover of approximately £12.5m.

Sonny Arora will remain managing director of the business which will trade under the name of AAK Soya International.

There is a put/call option under which AAK could acquire the remaining 20% of the company within the next two to five years.

AAK says the acquisition has no significant impact on its earnings.

The corporate finance team at KPMG Manchester acted on the deal on behalf of Soya International.

Claire Frangou, who led the deal, said: “Soya International is yet another example of an ambitious North West business developing world-leading products for an international audience.

“This deal, which will expand AAK’s market proposition and ensure further growth for Soya International, highlights that, despite current conditions, M&A activity is still front of mind for many.”

Soya International was advised by a multi-disciplinary team from KPMG corporate finance (Jonathan Boyers, Claire Frangou, Anthony Yu, James Gaffney and Hannah Taylor), transaction services (Chris Stott and Suzie Fairhurst), and Addleshaw Goddard.

The Addleshaw Goddard team included Roger Hart, George Danczak, Farah Aslam, Joanne Cooper, Gemma Phillips, Ruby Allen, Lauren Wright, Chloe Thornhill (corporate), Jade Chan, Catherine Concannon (tax), Kim Pattullo (employment), Andreas Petrou (real estate).

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