R&R to Buy Australian Ice Cream Business

27 May 2014 --- One of Europe’s largest ice cream makers, R&R Ice Cream, has announced it will buy the Australian Peters Food Group in a deal reported to be worth £247m.

Under the deal, R&R will acquire Peters and its portfolio of ice cream brands including Drumstick, Connoisseur, Peters Original and Maxibon. Private equity owner Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) sold Peters to R&R, two years after it bought the company from Nestle.

“By combining the two companies, R&R is further establishing its position as a world leader in the ice cream manufacturing market with a unique presence both in the European and Australian markets and significant increased potential for international expansion,” R&R and Peters said in a joint statement.

Since it acquired Peters, PEP has invested in its core brands and new product development, as well as improvements in operating costs.

The Yorkshire-based R&R, meanwhile, was sold a year ago to French private equity firm, PAI Partners. The company is the largest private label ice cream manufacturer in Europe and its portfolio also includes Mondelez and Nestle brands such as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Smarties, Oreo and KitKat. It also has YooMoo frozen yogurt.

The deal follows R&R’s purchase of Fredericks Dairies in April last year.