French ingredients house buys British sauce maker
CEO of Solina Laurent Weber said he looked forward to working with New Ivory's management team to develop further its new UK platform.
“New Ivory will benefit from the existing European network of Solina with multiple R&D centres and technologies. We plan to provide New Ivory’s customers with access to Solina’s broader platform of products, ingredients and services which is now unique in Europe,” he added.
Brittany-based Solina supplies texturants, stabilisers as well as as marinades, seasonings and batter coatings, along with protein powders, nutricosmetics and food supplements in the more nutritional segment.
It has 11 production facilities across Europe, a turnover of €305 million in 2014 and has set itself the objective of expanding across Europe in three core areas: the savoury industry, food service and butchers and nutrition.
UK-headquartered New Ivory manufactures culinary sauce for the meat, fish and poultry industries and generates sales of around £20m (€23) in the UK.
The owner of New Ivory Rob Whitehead said: “In addition to the culinary expertise and customer focus at the heart of New Ivory’s value proposition, Solina brings a global reach and scale now needed to compete in a truly world class market like chilled food. [Its] plans in the UK are very exciting and I think our customers will welcome the ongoing choice that the introduction of Solina will bring.”
Solina already has one culinary sauce plant in Nieuw Vennep, the Netherlands.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Last year Solina was acquired by private investment company Ardian, which has assets of €47bn, a move Solina said would bring new human and financial resources to focus on growth in emerging markets and increasing its presence in Europe.