Irish food company Redbrook has been snapped up by an Israeli firm for €40m
The Dublin-based firm employs 39 people and has been in business for nearly 30 years.
ISRAELI GIANT FRUTAROM has forked out $44.8 million (€40 million) to acquire Irish food company Redbrook.
The agreement includes a clause stating that an additional amount could be paid for the company depending on how Redbrook performs in the future.
Redbrook CEO Kieran Fox will continue in his role and will join Frutarom’s ‘flavors activity’ management.
Frutarom president and CEO Ori Yehudai said that the deal, which is the company’s first move into the Irish market, will reinforce its position in the UK market.
“This is an important acquisition in establishing Frutarom’s standing as one of the world’s largest and leading companies for flavors, and strengthens its presence and position as a top global producer of natural, healthy and innovative savory taste solutions,” he said.
Frutarom, a flavor and fragrance company that had sales of almost $900 million last year, said that the transaction was financed through bank debt.
Meat supplier
Established in 1987, Dublin-based Redbrook is one of the country’s leading suppliers of niche ingredients for the meat and savoury food processing sectors.
It says that its main activity is the “development, production and marketing of innovative specialty savory taste solutions, which includes seasoning, cures and specialty ingredients for food processors.”
The firm has a research and development center, and production site near Dublin as well as a production and R&D unit in Daventry, England, near a Frutarom site at Wellingborough.
Redbrook produces flavourings for meat
Redbrook has 39 employees and said its sales for the 12-month period to the end of June, according to current exchange rates, amounted to about $25.4 million.
According to its most recent accounts, the company made a profit of €1.75 million in the year to the end of April 2015, down slightly from €1.81 million in 2014. However, the 2014 figures were boosted by a dividend payment of €700,000 from its subsidiaries.
$2 billion sales
Frutarom, which employs more than 4,500 people worldwide, has two main activities. The first is its ‘flavors activity’ which develops, produces and markets flavour compounds and food systems and its ‘specialty fine ingredients’ arm which develops a variety of products such as natural food ingredients and colours.
The company, which is based in Tel Aviv, has production and development centers on all six continents. It is among the top 10 flavours and ingredients companies in the world sells to more than 28,000 customers in over 150 countries.
This is the firm’s sixth acquisition this year.
Yehudai said that Frutarom “intends to utilize and combine Redbrook’s R&D, sales and marketing infrastructure and production and supply chain platform in Ireland and the UK” together with Frutarom’s own structure.
He said that Frutarom is aiming to grow its sales in its core activities to $2 billion by 2020.
