Kerry buys four more flavour groups

KERRY Group’s 2004 shopping spree broke the €600m mark following the purchase of four more flavour companies for €170m yesterday.

Very significantly, the acquired businesses include an international fragrance manufacturer for the first time. The company said they have cleared their heads on this area and will buy more fragrance companies to complement its global Mastertaste flavours division within which it will become a business unit. In early March, Kerry spent $440 to acquire Quest Food Ingredients from the ICI Group, which has now been established as a new Kerry Bio-Science division, alongside Kerry Ingredients, Kerry Foods, Kerry Agribusiness and Mastertaste.

Later that month the company spent another $96m on Oregon Chai Inc based in Portland, Oregon and Extreme Foods, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The total spend to date this year is €623m.

Yesterday, Kerry revealed details of the purchase of four flavour businesses for €170m, which the company said will significantly expanding the group’s Mastertaste division’s flavour development and global customer service capabilities.

“The acquisition of Manheimer Inc based in New Jersey (USA), Flavurence based in Los Angeles (USA), Laboratorios Krauss based in Mexico and Fructamine based in Italy, represents a further major step in broadening the group’s flavour technical base and in progressing Mastertaste’s regional development and business expansion programme,” the company said.

In the financial year 2003, the four businesses purchased yesterday had annual revenues of €110m.

Kerry Group chief executive Hugh Friel said: “Manheimer Fragrances represents the group’s first entry into the specialist fragrance market.”