June 2 - Associated British Foods plc (“ABF”), the international food, ingredients and retail group, has today announced that it has reached agreement with UK breakfast cereal and cereal bar business, W Jordan & Son (Silo) Limited (“Jordans”), to merge the Jordans business with its Ryvita crispbread and healthy snacks business. ABF will have a 62% interest in the combined business with the balance held by the existing shareholders of Jordans. The Jordan family will remain fully involved in the business. Completion is subject to certain regulatory clearances and is expected to take place during the third quarter of 2008.
Jordans is a successful and leading breakfast cereal and cereal bar business in the UK. It was founded by the Jordan family from whom ABF acquired a 20% shareholding last year. The Jordans brand has a strong and differentiated consumer position based on its use of natural, organic and Conservation Grade® ingredients. Its products range from breakfast cereals to cereal bars, muesli and oat porridge. The company has three manufacturing sites and has its head office in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. It had unaudited sales of £85m for the year ended 29 February 2008 and unaudited gross assets of £42m at 29 February 2008.
Ryvita has an 80 year heritage and has become a byword for crispbread. Ryvita is committed to promoting healthy eating and provides a range of healthy snacks utilising wholegrain cereals, which are low in fat and calories. It has successfully extended its brand with the development of a range of healthy snacks including Minis and cereal Goodness bars. It has manufacturing sites in Poole, Dorset and Stockport, Greater Manchester.
The combination of Jordans and Ryvita will create a leading position for the supply of products to meet the increasing consumer demand for natural ingredients and healthy eating. Some cost savings will be achieved and both brands will be developed. The complementary technologies currently used by each business will provide new product opportunities and the increased scale will enable a greater impact in all sales channels particularly in convenience and impulse. Faster overseas expansion of the Jordans brand will be achieved using ABF’s international grocery presence.
Bill Jordan, Chairman of Jordans, said:
"Both David and I believe passionately in making good quality wholegrain cereal to promote the health of our customers and protect the countryside. Jordans and Ryvita have built strong reputations for milling wholegrain cereals and it seems very natural to us that we should form a partnership that draws on these links. From being a small producer promoting whole grains, to what was then a niche group of consumers, Jordans has now reached the point where the benefit of wholegrain cereal is understood by a mainstream, and international, market. This new partnership gives us scale and the ability to share our beliefs, in the benefits of natural foods and protecting the countryside, with even more people."
George Weston, Chief Executive of Associated British Foods, said:
"I am delighted that the relationship built with the Jordan family over the last year has enabled the merging of these two fine businesses. We are creating a strong new business and I look forward to the further development of both the Jordans and Ryvita brands."