UK: Green Isle buy out of Lacemont heralds further growth for Northern Foods

Green Isle has acquired the pizza and garlic bread manufacturer Lacemont . The Irish subsidiary of supermarket supplier Northern Foods paid US$14.6 for the company, in a bid to boost its frozen pizza division. The news of expansion comes hard on Northern Foods' posting of its largest-ever sales week during the run-up to Christmas, and an overall increase of sales by 4% during Q3. The company is also continuing with its share buy-back scheme, having already purchased 24m shares, and its £6m restructuring programme is progressing well.