Premium Brands Holdings Corporation Announces Investment in Maximum Seafood

Its strong market position and differentiation based business strategies combined with exceptional growth opportunities in the seafood category make this an ideal investment for us," said Mr. George Paleologou, President and CEO.

6 Jul 2010 --- Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, a leading producer, marketer and distributor of branded specialty food products, announced the acquisition of a 76% interest in Toronto, ON based Maximum Seafood (Maximum). Maximum is a leading supplier of a variety of fresh and live seafood products with annual sales of approximately $56 million.

"Max D'Elia, Leo D'Elia and Tony D'Angelo, the founders of Maximum, have done an exceptional job in making Maximum one of the leading providers of fresh and live seafood to the Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal markets. Its strong market position and differentiation based business strategies combined with exceptional growth opportunities in the seafood category make this an ideal investment for us," said Mr. George Paleologou, President and CEO.

"Our existing seafood business, which has grown rapidly over the last several years to almost $30 million in annual sales, together with Maximum will create an $85 million sales platform in a product category that is benefiting from a number of consumer trends, including an increased awareness of the health benefits associated with a diet that incorporates fresh seafood, and Canada's changing ethnic mix.

"Looking forward, the expertise and resources that Maximum has in fresh and live seafood, combined with the buying and supply channel synergies created between Maximum and our other seafood initiatives, positions us very well to build a national seafood platform and to further accelerate our sales in this rapidly growing product category," added Mr. Paleologou.

"I am very excited by the opportunity to work with the Premium Brands group to take Maximum to the next stage in its development," said Mr. Max D'Elia, CEO of Maximum. "While we will continue to execute our wholesale focused business plan, we are looking forward to leveraging Premium Brands' infrastructure and product supply initiatives to drive our growth across Canada," added Mr. D'Elia.

"Our investment in Maximum, which is our first transaction in central Canada, is another example of how Premium Brands provides successful entrepreneurs with customized ownership solutions while positioning their businesses for accelerated growth through access to our operational and financial resources," said Mr. Paleologou.

The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to both Premium Brands' earnings per share and free cash flow per share.