Canada-based meat and poultry producer Sofina Foods continues its growth in Europe with the recent acquisition of Finnebrogue.
Finnebrogue is a family-owned, award-winning food manufacturing business, established in 1991 by Denis and Christine Lynn. The company currently employs around 1,200 people across four state-of-the-art facilities in County Down, Northern Ireland. Finnebrogue produces a wide range of food products, including outdoor-bred pork, sausages, rashers, and ham, as well as plant-based proteins.
With this acquisition, Sofina Foods Europe now employs over 9,000 people across 27 sites.
Finnebrogue sites will continue to provide sustainable, high-quality food products and will complement Sofina Foods Europe’s existing food distribution network across the UK and in Europe.
Michael Latifi, founder, chairman and CEO of Sofina Foods, said: “This acquisition will allow Sofina Foods to continue our journey of ambitious expansion. We have created a global foundation for continued growth, with a history of excellence in food production and processing spanning over 30 years. Both Sofina Foods and Finnebrogue share a common culture of excellence, discipline and integrity and I look forward to building on the strengths of both companies.”
Christine Lynn said she is pleased that Sofina Foods will take over the company she and her late husband founded.
“In May 2021, my husband tragically died; from then on I have had the support and backing of the leadership team which Denis created, and I am so proud that Finnebrogue has continued to prosper and grow,” she said.
“But the time has now come for me to hand over the baton, and to do so to Sofina who I know will uphold Denis’s legacy and take Finnebrogue on to its next chapter.”
Sofina Foods Finance, Tax, Treasury and Legal Teams managed this transaction with external support from PWC, Taylor Wessing, Tughans LLP, Ashurst, and Tetra Tech.
During the process, Finnebrogue were advised by Piper Sandler, Carson McDowell and EY.
Sofina Foods, headquartered in Markham, Ontario, established a presence in Europe in 2021 with the acquisition of Eight Fifty Food Group, a European pork and seafood company.
Eight Fifty was previously owned by private equity firm CapVest Partners, which acquired U.K. pork processor Karro Food Group in 2017 and Young’s Seafood in 2019. CapVest later consolidated those two entities with five other protein businesses from across Europe to form Eight Fifty Food Group.
Meanwhile, Sofina Foods is also expanding in Canada, having recently announced its plans to acquire Exceldor Cooperative, which has poultry brands that include Exceldor, Lacroix and Granny’s. Exceldor holds the Canadian license to the Butterball turkey brand.
