KEY POINTS:
Griffins Foods, owned by Pacific Equity Partners, is being tipped to seek more expansion opportunities after a deal to buy Glen Innes snacks business Nice & Natural.
Australian-based private equity firm PEP bought Griffins in June last year.
Yesterday Griffins - a market leader in biscuits and salty snacks - said the purchase of Nice & Natural for an undisclosed sum would help it become a market leader in the nutritious snacks category as well.
A senior food industry source expected PEP to seek more "logical opportunities" to add to the growing snacks business.
He described Nice & Natural as a good fit for Griffins, as the types of snacks it made had been missing from the company's portfolio.
The Nice & Natural move is part of a growing PEP presence in the food and beverage sector.
After taking control of Griffins last year, PEP joined up with another private equity firm, CCMP Capital Australia, to make a winning $1.26 billion bid for Independent Liquor. Griffins chief executive Ron Vela said Nice & Natural was a "perfect fit" with the existing business and it would "play a crucial role in our growth strategy both domestically and internationally".
Nice & Natural had made good progress into Australia last year and the market there had "significant growth opportunities", Griffins said.
While the turnover of Nice & Natural, set up in 1985, was not disclosed, vendor Allen Peters said it had grown from a small family business to a market leader and he was confident it would continue to grow.
Snack Attack
Griffins is:
* No 1 in biscuits - brands include Toffee Pops and Mallowpuffs.
* No 2 in salty snacks - brands include Eta and Ripples.
* Now acquiring Nice & Natural, a market leader in nutritious snacks, with brands such as Natural Nut Bars and Sweet & Salty Bars.
