Nomad Foods begins talks to acquire Fortenova’s frozen food portfolio

FFBG operates across various categories, including fish, fruits, and vegetables. Credit: Sebastian Pena Lambarri on Unsplash.

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Nomad Foods has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire Fortenova Group’s Frozen Food Business Group (FFBG), which includes Ledo, Frikom and other frozen food brands.

FFBG has a presence in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and several other countries in southeastern Europe.

It operates across various categories, including fish, fruits, vegetables, ready meals, pastry and ice cream in these regions.

The intent to acquire FFBG food portfolio is said to be part of Nomad Foods management’s strategy of complementing strong organic growth in the base business by acquiring strong frozen food brands across Europe.

Nomad Foods said the discussions are currently at the preliminary stage and there is no guarantee that the transaction will be completed.

Earlier this month, Nomad Foods completed the acquisition of frozen food brand Findus Switzerland from Froneri International and certain intellectual property from a Nestlé affiliate for an aggregate consideration of nearly €110m ($135m).

Findus has a portfolio of value-added products across categories, including fish, vegetables and ready meals.

Nomad Foods offers Findus-branded foods across various European markets such as Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. The deal also offered an extension for the company’s Findus product offering and brand family with an ‘attractive entry point’ for the Green Cuisine range of plant-based meat alternatives.