LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y.,
July 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN), a leading organic
and natural products company providing consumers with A Healthier
Way of Life™, today announced the acquisition of the remaining
51.3% of Hain Pure Protein Corporation ("HPP") that it did not
already own from an affiliate of Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P.
("Pegasus"). The purchase price of HPP was $40 million.
HPP, a leading antibiotic-free and organic poultry company,
offers a full range of fresh and frozen FreeBird® chicken and
Plainville Farms® turkey and private label products in the United
States. In fiscal year 2014, HPP is expected to generate over
$230 million in net sales, a double
digit increase over the prior year, and is expected to be accretive
to Hain Celestial's earnings in fiscal year 2015 by $0.03 to $0.05 per diluted share. Hain Celestial
plans to continue to improve HPP's results by leveraging its sales
network, marketing and administrative functions and improving
productivity.
"We are very excited about the strategic acquisition of
HPP. Our joint venture has successfully grown from incubation
to over $200 million in net sales by
focusing on antibiotic-free and organic poultry," said Irwin D. Simon, Founder, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Hain Celestial. "While we have enjoyed
partnering with Pegasus for many years, having Freebird chicken and
Plainville Farms turkey as part of Hain Celestial's branded product
portfolio provides us with a wide array of Farm to Table product
offerings from fresh to deli and food service in a growing category
that appeals to those seeking "the pure foods trend", including our
core natural and organic consumers."
All FreeBird and Plainville Farms products carry the Earthwise®
banner on packaging, which signifies humanely-raised and
vegetarian-fed poultry from family farms, without the use of growth
hormones or antibiotics. HPP's customers include grocery and
natural foods retailers as well as food service outlets including
fast casual and white tablecloth venues, which feature food that is
grown sustainably and without genetically modified organisms
("GMOs").
Jay Lieberman, Chief Operating
Officer of HPP, will continue to be responsible for the day-to-day
operations of HPP, which will be a separate operating segment of
the Company reporting to Irwin
Simon. With HPP's expertise in food service,
Ted Maguire, Senior Vice President,
Sales of HPP will now be responsible for expanding Hain Celestial's
products into the food service channel currently served by HPP.
"We expect to deliver synergies through increased sales growth
and cost efficiencies by effectively leveraging Hain Celestial's
broader scale, as we have successfully demonstrated with our
previous acquisitions," added Irwin
Simon. "This is a great category for us. We view HPP's
product offerings as a complement to our existing product portfolio
and a platform from which we can expand our snacks and other Hain
Celestial's product offerings into food service, and we will
continue to pursue other accretive strategic acquisitions for Hain
Celestial in growing categories in the natural and organic
sector."
Webcast
Hain Celestial will host a conference call and
webcast at 4:15 PM Eastern Time today
to discuss the strategic acquisition of a controlling interest in
HPP. The conference call will be webcast and available under
the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at
www.hain.com.
The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.
The Hain Celestial
Group (NASDAQ: HAIN), headquartered in Lake Success, NY, is a leading organic and
natural products company in North
America and Europe. Hain Celestial participates in
many natural categories with well-known brands that include
Celestial Seasonings®, Earth's Best®, Ella's Kitchen®, Terra®,
Garden of Eatin'®, Sensible Portions®, Health Valley®, Arrowhead
Mills®, MaraNatha®, SunSpire®, DeBoles®, Rudi's Organic Bakery®,
Gluten Free Café™, Hain Pure Foods®, Spectrum®, Spectrum
Essentials®, Walnut Acres Organic®, Imagine®, Almond Dream®, Rice
Dream®, Soy Dream®, WestSoy®, The Greek Gods®, BluePrint®,
FreeBird®, Plainville Farms®, Yves Veggie Cuisine®, Europe's Best®, Cully & Sully®, New Covent
Garden Soup Co.®, Johnson's Juice Co.®, Farmhouse Fare®,
Hartley's®, Sun-Pat®, Gale's®, Robertson's®, Frank Cooper's®, Linda McCartney®, Lima®,
Danival®, GG UniqueFiber®, Tilda®, Akash Basmati®, Abu Shmagh®,
JASON®, Avalon Organics®, Alba Botanica® and Queen Helene®.
Hain Celestial has been providing A Healthier Way of Life™ since
1993. For more information, visit www.hain.com.
Hain Pure Protein Corporation
Formed in July 2005, Hain Pure Protein Corporation is a
joint venture between The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. and Pegasus
Capital Advisors, L.P. With this acquisition, HPP is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Hain Celestial. HPP also owns a
19% interest in Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc., one of the country's
most established kosher poultry processors, which, in 2010,
purchased the Kosher Valley poultry brand developed by HPP.
Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P.
Pegasus Capital
Advisors, L.P. is a private equity fund manager that has been
providing creative capital and strategic solutions to companies
across a variety of industries since 1996. Pegasus partners with
management teams of growth companies, with a focus on those that
benefit from the business implications of global resource scarcity.
Sectors where this trend is most pronounced are food, water,
energy, health & wellness and security. Pegasus currently
manages approximately $2.0 billion in
assets. Pegasus' investment team comprises over 60 investment
professionals and operating partners.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains
forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "plan," "continue,"
"expect," "expected," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "may,"
"potential," "can," "positioned," "should," "future," "look
forward" and similar expressions, or the negative of those
expressions, may identify forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements include the Company's expectations
relating to (i) the acquisition of HPP and the potential for growth
and improvements to the Company's earnings results therefrom and
(ii) its acquisition strategy. Forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could
cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those
described in the forward-looking statements. These factors
include, but are not limited to the Company's ability to achieve
its guidance for net sales and earnings per diluted share in fiscal
year 2014 given the economic environment in the U.S. and other
markets that it sells products as well as economic, political and
business conditions generally and their effect on the Company's
customers and consumers' product preferences, and the Company's
business, financial condition and results of operations; the
Company's expectations for its business for fiscal year 2014 and
its positioning for the future; changes in estimates or judgments
related to the Company's impairment analysis of goodwill and other
intangible assets, as well as with respect to the Company's
valuation allowances of its deferred tax assets; the Company's
ability to implement its business and acquisition strategy; the
ability of the Company's joint venture investments, to successfully
execute their business plans; the Company's ability to realize
sustainable growth generally and from investments in core brands,
offering new products and its focus on cost containment,
productivity, cash flow and margin enhancement in particular; the
Company's ability to effectively integrate its acquisitions; the
effects on the Company's results of operations from the impacts of
foreign exchange; competition; the success and cost of introducing
new products as well as the Company's ability to increase prices on
existing products; availability and retention of key personnel; the
Company's reliance on third party distributors, manufacturers and
suppliers; the Company's ability to maintain existing customers and
secure and integrate new customers; the Company's ability to
respond to changes and trends in customer and consumer demand,
preferences and consumption; international sales and operations;
changes in fuel, raw material and commodity costs; changes in, or
the failure to comply with, government regulations; the
availability of natural and organic ingredients; the loss of one or
more of the Company's manufacturing facilities; the ability to use
the Company's trademarks; reputational damage; product liability;
seasonality; litigation; the Company's reliance on its information
technology systems; and the other risks detailed from time-to-time
in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including the annual report on Form 10-K for
the fiscal year ended June 30,
2013. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, no
assurance can be given as to future results, levels of activity and
achievements and neither the Company nor any person assumes
responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of these
statements.
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SOURCE The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.