Newlat snaps up Symington’s

Italian international ambient and dairy business Newlat Food has bought Symington’s, the Leeds-based branded meal and snack manufacturer.

Listed on the Italian stock exchange, Newlat is a family-run business based in northern Italy, one of the country’s leading producers of milk and milk products, pasta and baked goods, gluten-free and protein-free products and baby food. It has 1,500 employees across 14 production plants in Italy and one in Germany.

Symington’s also operates in the ambient food sector, across multiple grocers and convenience, both in the UK and internationally. Employing around 900 people, the company’s brands include Mug Shot, Naked (Naked Noodle, Naked Rice, Naked Soups), Twistd, The Hungry Elephant, Chicken Tonight and Ragu. It is a major player in the instant hot snacks category which is worth more than £385m at annual retail sales value [Nielsen]. The company also produces retailer brand products across a growing number of categories.

Symington’s has manufacturing and distribution centres spread over two locations in Leeds (offices, warehouse and distribution and dry meals facility), one in Bradford (producing croutons and bread snacks) and another in Durham (a unique wet meals retort facility).

“We are happy to announce the acquisition of Symington’s,” said Angelo Mastrolia, Chairman of Newlat. “This is an interesting business with high potential for growth and we deem it to be a perfect fit into our strategic plan. We see a number of synergies between our businesses as we both produce complementary but different categories of products.

David Cox, CEO at Symington’s, said: “This is fantastic news for us. Newlat wants to invest in our business and our brands. It provides long-term security for our business with an international ambient and dairy food player operating in mutually beneficial categories and is an exciting time for us both.”

Symington’s reported a strong financial year in the year to August 2020, with sales increasing 4.2 per cent on the previous year to £114m and an 17.5 per cent uplift on earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to £9.6m.