Acquistion
Valeo Foods set to buy Tangerine Confectionery brands in $127m deal
Valeo Foods, owner of popular UK brand, Fox’s Mints, is reportedly set to buy Tangerine, the maker of classic sweets including Dip-Dab and Blackjacks, in a £100m-plus ($127.6m) deal.
News reports suggest Tangerine’s current private equity owner Blackstone has struck the deal to sell the confectionery maker to Valeo, a pan-European consumer foods producer that is partly-owned by Capvest, another private equity firm.
The move would combine Tangerine’s portfolio with Valeo’s own Big Bear confectionery, which Valeo acquired from Raisio in 2017 for €100m ($114m). The deal will bring Valeo's annual revenues up to €900m ($1.026bn).
Big Bear Confectionery’s portfolio spans Europe and includes Balconi in Italy along with UK brands such as Odlums, Batchelors, Kelkin, Robert Roberts, Fox’s Glacier Mints and Poppets.
Snacking arm
Tangerine sold its snacking arm Butterkist Popcorn to KP Snacks-owner Intersnack for an undisclosed sum in July 2017. At the time, Tangerine said it wanted to focus on its core confectionery business.
Valeo currently operates in 90 markets worldwide and the acquisition of Tangerine further enhances the company’s position in the UK’s confectionery market, adding five more production sites to its UK operation.
The Grocer reported Tangerine’s last financial accounts, for the year ending 30 December 2016, showed an 8.3% decline in sales to £139m ($177m), as pre-tax profits also heavily fell, by 65%, to £3.3m ($4.2m).
