Hearthside Food Solutions, the US contract manufacturer of bars and baked goods, has struck a deal to buy Netherlands-based nutrition bar maker VSI from Dutch private-equity firm NPM Capital.
The agreement will see Hearthside, part-owned by Goldman Sachs, attain three plants in Europe. It already has 19 US-based facilities.
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By GlobalDataHearthside has also moved to acquire a nutritional supplement bar production facility in the US from Post Holdings. The company said the two deals would “enable the rapid scaling of VSI’s formulations, R&D, product development, and full-scale production in the Americas”.
Rich Scalise, Hearthside founder and chairman, said the acquisition of VSI was “both a category and geographic expansion, putting Hearthside into the three fastest-growing bar categories as well as in the European market, where VSI is a leader”. He added: “The R&D and production expertise of VSI in the fast-growth categories of nutrition, diet, and functional bars enables Hearthside to take a quantum leap forward, providing our customers with the most complete offerings in the industry.”
Post shut the Boise site, which it picked up through the acquisition of Nestle’s PowerBar business, in March. Dwayne Hughes, senior vice president of supply chain at Hearthside, said the facility quickly gave VSI production in North America. “It takes two years from greenfield to operational bar plant. “We wanted VSI capacity in the North American mix more quickly. This facility is ready to go today. The timing, the location, and the state-of-the-art equipment provides a perfect solution that makes us competitive in more bar categories immediately.”
VSI had been under the ownership of NPM since 2012. Gerard Janssens, CEO of VSI, said it was “the right move for VSI at the right time”.
“Our people, our leadership team and our customers all benefit from this acquisition. We will be able to do more things for more customers in more places. For example, we can design, formulate, and commercialise a new bar, then produce it for customers in Europe and the Americas. This combined bar development and delivery platform sets new standards in the contract manufacturing industry.”
Terms were not disclosed. Both transactions are expected to close in September.
Goldman Sachs and US private-equity firm Vestar Capital Partners bought Hearthside last year.
