Sports nutrition group CytoSport is hoping its sale to Hormel Foods will expand its presence internationally.

Hormel announced yesterday (30 June) it had struck a deal to buy CytoSport, the owner of brands including Muscle Milk protein drinks, for US$450m.

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CytoSport said it expects the growth of the business to accelerate thanks to the increased resources Hormel ownership offers.

Greg Pickett, CytoSport’s chairman and founder, said: “We are excited for the future of the company and are fully confident that aligning our team’s knowledge and experience in the sports nutrition world with the incredibly robust global strategies of Hormel Foods, will help the company establish an even stronger portfolio of brands and products.

Co-founder Mike Pickett added: “We view this new opportunity as a tremendous way to expand the CytoSport brand presence on the global scale and align with a company that shares our commitment to employees and consumers.”

Hormel said CytoSport’s 2014 annual sales are expected to be approximately $370m. It added it expects the deal to be earnings neutral in 2014 and add around five cents to earnings per share in fiscal 2015. The company will take control of the business from the founding Pickett family as well as private-equity investors TSG Consumer Partners.

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Hormel said CytoSport’s products align with its own focus on protein. The company beefed up its presence in the alternative, non-meat protein sector last year with the acquisition of the Skippy peanut butter brand from Unilever. The firm added that the CytoSport acquisition diversifies Hormel’s product portfolio and strengthens its appeal to “younger consumers”.

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