Food manufacturer Premier Foods has acquired breakfast brand Fuel10K in a deal worth £34million.
The Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy owner said it will spend £29.6million upfront through its cash reserves and at least another £4million in the 2026/27 financial year for the company.
Founded in 2012 and based in the Scottish Highlands town of Dingwall, Fuel10K is a B Corp firm which creates ‘protein-enriched’ porridge, granola and muffins, as well as cookies, oat squares and flapjacks.
Takeover: Food manufacturer Premier Foods has acquired breakfast brand Fuel10K
Most of Britain’s largest grocers and convenience channels stock the group’s food range, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Spar and Nisa, and customers can also buy their products on Amazon.
For the last fiscal year, the business reported sales rose to pre-tax profits of around £500,000 after revenue jumped to £18.5million.
Barney Mauleverer, co-founder of Fuel10K, said: ‘We are very excited to be passing the reigns on to the owner of such a great stable of UK brands.
‘Having built the foundations from start-up, the Fuel10K brand is now primed to accelerate into the future and achieve even more great things.
‘I could not think of a better custodian of our brand than Premier Foods to entrust what we have begun and make the most of such a great opportunity.’
Premier expects the acquisition to be ‘earnings accretive’ in the first full year and for its net debt to earnings before nasties ratio to decline this fiscal year.
Alex Whitehouse, its chief executive, said the deal ‘follows on from our successful integration’ of Indian meal kit firm The Spice Tailor, which was completed in March and was Premier’s first takeover in 15 years.
He added: ‘With its protein enriched product range and appealing to a younger demographic, we expect to deliver significant further profitable growth of Fuel10K through the deployment of our successful branded growth model.’
Premier’s latest acquisition follows a strong year for the company, which reported revenue climbed by 21.1 per in the 12 weeks to July thanks to bumper grocery sales.
Premier Foods shares were 3.4 per cent higher at £1.17 on mid-Monday afternoon and have expanded by approximately 13 per cent over the past year.