Payment partly in Newlat shares, with Mitsubishi becoming the second shareholder of the group after the Mastrolia family.

After months of negotiations the deal fell through and it looked like Newlat's takeover of Princes was over (see EFA News article). But evidently the communication channels had not been interrupted and now the Reggio Emilia group has announced the strategic operation of acquiring 100% of Princes Limited, a historic canning food group based in the United Kingdom (and with an important plant in Foggia for the tomato processing).

The investment, as specified by president Angelo Mastrolia to Class CNBC, is 700 million pounds (800 million euros), of which 650 million in cash and the rest in Newlat shares. The Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi, owner of Princes, becomes the second shareholder of Newla Food, after the Mastrolia family.

According to the president, Princes' excellent first quarter 2024 performance convinced Newlat of the opportunity to close the deal.

With the acquisition of Princes, Newlat Food achieves a consolidated turnover of approximately €2.8 billion and a strong position in new categories in the UK market.

"The group will double the offering of product categories to its customers, becoming one of the leading multi-brand and multi-product companies in the food sector in Europe, thanks to increasingly exclusive industrial know-how and production capacity, thanks to its 31 factories , one of a kind", reads a note from Newlat Food.

The closing of the transaction, subject to obtaining antitrust authorizations from the competent authorities and consultation with the European and Dutch works council within the Princes group, is expected by the end of July 2024. The Presidency of the Council of Ministers has already confirmed that the operation does not fall within the scope of application of the "golden power" regulations referred to in the legislative decree of 15 March 2012, n° 21.

Angelo Mastrolia (photo), president of Newlat Food, expresses great satisfaction with the success of the acquisition, which, in his opinion, "marks a fundamental stage in our growth strategy. Princes Limited is a prestigious company and the integration of Its activities with Newlat Food allow us to further consolidate our position as a leader in the food sector."

Upon completion of the acquisition, Newlat Food expects to become "one of the largest food companies listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, strengthening its role as an international protagonist. The economic prospects of the new group give us confidence in a future of sustainable growth, ready to create value for all stakeholders. The new group will offer a wide range of high quality products, responding to the needs of an increasingly demanding and diversified global market", claims Mastrolia, "will allow us to enter new segments of market and to better serve our customers with an even more complete, innovative and unique product offering."