Premium Brands Holdings Corp. has acquired a 100% interest in Diana’s Seafood, a supplier of fresh and frozen seafood products to retail and food service. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Toronto-based Diana’s Seafood has annual sales of approximately C$18 million ($13.6 million). Premium Brands plans to use Diana’s strength in niche seafood products to expand the offerings of its other seafood and wholesale food business, the company said.
“We are very excited about Diana’s joining our rapidly growing Seafood Group business platform,” said George Paleologou, president and chief executive officer of Premium Brands. “This platform, which has grown from virtually no sales in 2007 to over C$135 million in projected sales for 2016, is benefiting from a number of consumer trends, including increased consumer awareness of the health benefits associated with a seafood-rich diet and Canada’s changing demographics, both in terms of age and ethnic mix. The Diana’s transaction, which is our Seafood Group’s fifth acquisition, moves this platform one step closer to its objective of building Canada’s only national seafood distribution network.”
Additionally, Premium Brands said it will leverage Diana’s brand and customer relationships in the food service industry to create additional sales opportunities for its new Ontario food service expansion initiative.
“With respect to the Diana’s business specifically, not only do we expect it to benefit from our extensive supply chain related resources, but it will also be able to leverage our new Ontario food service facility to accelerate the growth of its foodservice distribution business, which in recent years has been constrained by warehouse capacity limitations,” Mr. Paleologou said.
The acquisition of Diana’s Seafood marks the sixth for Premium Brands this year. Earlier this month, the company acquired Island City Baking, Conte Foods and Larosa Fine Foods. Premium Brands bought Belmont Meats Products in October and Fletcher’s US in August.
By Rebekah Schouten
Source: Food Business News
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