Switzerland’s Hero Group, the owner of US baby-food business Beech-Nut, has announced a “strategic partnership” with Goodforgrowth, a firm in the same sector in Germany.
Details of the deal were not disclosed and Hero had not returned a request for information on what size stake it may have acquired in Goodforgrowth, the owner of brands including Freche Freunde, Googly Fruit and Rebelicious.
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In a statement announcing the “partnership”, Hero said the “closing of the transaction is subject to the approval of German anti-trust authorities”.
Hero counts baby and toddler food as one of its “core” categories but it is not present in that market in Germany.
Rob Versloot, Hero’s CEO, said Goodforgrowth’s portfolio “is fully in line with our mission”. He added: “We believe it is a perfect fit as we look to strengthen our portfolio in the area of organic and natural foods for babies and toddlers. We look forward to many years of fruitful cooperation.”
Versloot said the partnership will ensure Goodforgrowth’s retain its “entrepreneurial independence” Founders and owners, Alex and Natacha Neumann, will remain with the business.
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By GlobalData“We are very happy to have found the Hero Group as partners to grow our business. They are a company with family values and an entrepreneurial spirit driven to provide healthy and nutritious products for babies and toddlers. This strategic partnership will allow us to grow our dream further and allow us to continue putting the fun in healthy so kids can eat better,” they said in a joint statement.
