Dutch vegetarian-foods maker GoodLife Foods is to acquire Spain’s Audens Group Solutions.

Spicy beanburger and falafel manufacturer GoodLife has not said how much it is paying for Barcelona-based Audens, which specialises in frozen ready-meals and Portuguese products.

Breda-based GoodLife, which has been owned by UK private-equity house IK Partners since June last year, counts major UK supermarkets among its customers.

Audens offers a portfolio of branded and private-label products focused mainly on frozen snacks, appetisers and ready meals. It supplies the retail and foodservice channels and focuses mainly on the Iberian markets.

The company employs more than 800 people and operates five manufacturing plants in Spain and Portugal.

After the completion of the deal, Audens CEO David Sala Coll will become non-executive director at GoodLife and a strategic adviser to the Spain-based business. Carles Bosch will be appointed as general manager of Audens and will manage the daily business operations in Iberia.

GoodLife said the acquisition will result in a “highly complementary group producing and selling innovative frozen food snacks and meal components across Europe”.

Dirk Van de Walle, CEO at GoodLife Foods, said: “We can create a powerhouse in the food sector that is primed for success. Together, we will leverage our collective strengths to better serve our customers, drive operational excellence and fuel growth in both existing and emerging markets.”

Sala Coll added: “This transaction presents exciting opportunities for our employees, customers, suppliers and partners alike. Together, we will continue to deliver exceptional appetiser solutions while maintaining our unwavering commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.”

Prior to its acquisition last year by IK Partners, GoodLife was owned by Dutch investment firm Egeria.

GoodLife Foods emerged in 2019 following a name change from Izico Foods Group to reflect Egeria’s purchase of UK-based Goodlife Foods in 2017.

Frederik Jacobs, a partner at IK, said: “We are pleased to have helped bringing both companies together. Part of our investment strategy at GoodLife Foods is to accelerate internationalisation and expand our presence to faster growing frozen food categories.

“The combination of GoodLife Foods with Audens is a significant accelerator of our ambition to create a strong and structurally growing frozen food business across select savoury categories.”