Christian Salvesen plc has been acquired by Pinguin Foods N.V.

Arrowpoint Advisory are pleased to announce the sale by Christian Salvesen plc of its frozen vegetable business, Christian Salvesen Foods, to Belgian food group Pinguin NV, for estimated total cash consideration payable at completion of £17.2m.

The Consumer, Retail and Leisure team at Arrowpoint Advisory advised Christian Salvesen on the sale as part of its strategy of focusing on and developing its core logistics activities.

Christian Salvesen Foods is the UK's largest provider of private-label frozen vegetables, processing, storing and packing peas, carrots, beans and other vegetables for major retailers such as Tesco and Waitrose. In FY2007, the business generated operating profit of 0.7m on revenues of 44.6m.

Pinguin will rent the land and buildings of the business' three operating sites, for six years, and has an option to buy a 999 year lease of one of the sites, for an additional 4m.

Stewart Oades, Christian Salvesen Chief Executive, said: “We are pleased to have reached agreement on the sale of the business and believe that the business will have greater opportunities as a part of Pinguin, whose strategy is focussed on frozen vegetables. This disposal marks another important step in our strategy of refocusing around our core activities of logistics and transport.”

Herwig Dejonghe, Managing Director of Pinguin NV, commented: “Pinguin is delighted with the successful conclusion of the transaction with Christian Salvesen. We look forward to working closely with management to develop the long term growth prospects of the business.”

Daniel Domberger, Managing Director at Arrowpoint Advisory concluded: “Despite extreme weather conditions affecting this summer's pea harvest, we have been able to deliver an attractive result and an important milestone in Salvesen's strategic development.”

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