Paradise Foods Industries has been bought by food manufacturing giant Goodman Fielder for about $80 million, writes Carrie LaFrenz.
Brisbane-based Paradise Foods Industries has been bought by food manufacturing giant Goodman Fielder for about $80 million.
The Carole Park-based business, which owns the Cottage, Vive and Veri Deli brands, has gross revenue of $130 million and is the largest supplier of supermarket house brand biscuits in Australia.
Goodman Fielder, the owner of household brands like Meadow Lea, has been trying to expand into the biscuit market and bought Paradise from private equity investment house Archer Capital.
Archer bought Australia’s second largest biscuit manufacturer behind Arnott’s, from the Wong family which had run the company as a private business.
“This acquisition gives the company an entry into the Australian biscuit market, which is valued at more than $1 billion,” Goodman Fielder managing director Peter Margin said.
“It will provide a platform for further growth in Australia and is a potential vehicle for entry into the biscuit market in the broader Pacific region.
“We expect to derive synergy benefits as we apply Goodman Fielder management disciplines, particularly around commodity cost management.”
Rising commodity costs have hurt Goodman’s bottom line with extreme price volatility wiping $24.8 million off its half-year net profit.
Last month, Goodman reported a 26.2 per cent fall in first-half profit to $94.6 million.
The company reaffirmed its guidance for full-year earnings to be in line with last year but cautioned that higher prices for agricultural commodities such as wheat, food oils and dairy items would affect its results.
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Paradise Food Industries
Goodman Fielder