THG (The Hut Group), the Manchester-based firm best known for its online beauty and technology activities, has agreed to acquire nutritional snack bar maker Brighter Foods from Real Good Food in a £43m deal.
The company stated that the acquisition will bring Brighter’s product “know-how and innovative resource” in-house after it had already helped reformulate the majority of THG Nutrition’s snack bar range.
As well as cost synergies of around £3m, the deal is also expected to help THG Nutrition to reduce lead times for new product launches while ensuring product IP remains exclusive.
In the year to March 2021, Brighter generated adjusted EBITDA of £3.7m on revenues of £19.8m. It makes millions of bars a year at its factory in Tywyn, Wales, for brand partners around the world in the slimming, sport, confectionery, organic, and free-from categories. It also makes its own ‘Wild Trail’ brand of bars which are sold by Ocado.
THG Nutrition’s current portfolio includes the brands Myprotein, Myvegan, Myvitamins, Exante and Command. THG said the move will complement its recent acquisitions of nutrition product suppliers Claremont Ingredients and David Berryman.
Matthew Moulding, Chairman and Chief Executive of THG, said: “We are delighted to announce our first major acquisition within THG Nutrition in 2021. Brighter highly complements our developed vertical integration strategy and strengthens our capabilities in the growing convenience and snack bar market. Nutritional bars are a high growth category for THG, with significant product extension opportunity across all our brands.”
He added: “The Brighter team bring a wealth of bar manufacturing and product development expertise, and in line with the Claremont and Berryman’s acquisitions, enables THG to significantly accelerate the launch of further product innovation into global markets, while increasing the proportion of THG Nutrition products wholly manufactured in-house.”
NAM Implications:
- Opportunities for all Lockdown survivors…
- …to grow by the acquisition of weaker/fallen companies…
- …at break-up prices in many cases.
- Therefore crucial that suppliers harmonise all potential prices & terms disparities…
- ..before a customer does it on your behalf.
