VANCOUVER, B.C. — Premium Brands Holdings Corp. (TSX:PBH) says it has
acquired Vancouver-based South Seas Meats Ltd., a distributor of Halal
specialty meats that will help expand Premium’s portfolio of ethnic
foods.
Premium Brands, which has about 25,000 customers in Western
Canada and Washington State, paid about $2.1 million for South Sea
Meats, which had annual sales of about $10 million.
Halal meat is
prepared under Islamic guidelines for the slaughter of animals.
Ahsan
Razak, the founder and operator of South Sea Meats, will join the
management team of Premium Brands.
“His experience, knowledge and
expertise will be very valuable as we continue to execute our ethnic
foods initiatives,” Premium Brands chief executive George Paleologou
said in a statement.
“Looking forward, we expect to generate
significant synergies from this transaction by providing SSM access to
our global procurement initiatives, information system technologies and
financial resources and by leveraging SSM’s ethnic foods expertise to
expand the product offerings of our other distribution networks,”
Paleologou said.
The transaction is projected to increase the 2010
earnings and free cash flow of Premium Brands, whose brands include
Grimm’s, Harvest, McSweeney’s.
Premium Brands has manufacturing
and distribution facilities in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba and Washington State.
