Princes Group is getting ready to pull the trigger on its maiden deals as a public company, with three potential purchases lined up.
The tinned foods giant has identified two “interesting and very well-invested” assets set for divestment by multinational corporations, its management team has told The Grocer.
That comes alongside a “smaller but strategically important” company set up by an entrepreneur as a possible target.
“Considering how things are progressing in these weeks of discussions [we’ve had], we believe we may announce a new acquisition in a short period of time,” group CFO Fabio Fazzari said.
Princes is sitting on a £400m war chest after a London IPO last year outlined an deal-led growth strategy and a medium-term target of adding £1bn-£1.5bn of revenue through M&A.
This week, the group reported a 6.5% fall in like-for-like sales to £1.9bn in its first full-year results since listing on the LSE.
Princes said it was hit by deflationary pricing across several core raw materials and the rationalisation of low-margin contracts.
However, significant margin expansion and operational efficiencies led to a 22% rise in like-for-like EBITDA to £149.5m.
Since its acquisition by Italy’s NewPrinces (formerly Newlat) in mid-2024, Princes has been busy integrating with the wider group. NewPrinces’ own acquisitions of Diageo’s RTD factory in Italy and babyfood maker Plasmon have been “transformational” for the company, said CEO Simon Harrison.
“What we’re looking for is scale,” he added
“We have a big customer base, so we need significant scale to service it.
“We also look for industrial capability. One of our objectives is to produce almost everything we sell in one of our own factories – so that industrial know-how is our second criterion.
“The third criterion is, if possible, for there to be a complementary vertical. Diageo with alcohol, Plasmon with baby food are two good examples. And the fourth and final one is that we are ideally looking for underperforming assets from multinational corporations where we can use our turnaround expertise to really drive synergies.”
NewPrinces’ pending acquisition of Carrefour Italy will only strengthen Princes’ vertically integrated approach.
“It gives us potential access to 1,000 outlets,” said Harrison.
“We’ve already started to innovate, develop and produce products for sale in the Carrefour Italy estate.”
The Grocer also reported this week that Princes has pushed through a minimum 5% price hike on its range of white label and branded products, making it the first to move on increased costs in the Iran war.
Writing to customers, group commercial director Giuseppe Mastrolia blamed “unprecedented cost pressures” as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
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