Canned food manufacturer Century Pacific Foods Inc. said Tuesday it is acquiring the Philippine license of Hunt’s, the country’s leading pork and beans brand, from Hunt-Universal Robina Corp. for an undisclosed amount.
HURC is a 50-50 joint venture between URC of the Gokongwei Group and ConAgra Foods, one of North America’s leading packaged food companies, which will continue to own the Hunt’s trademark globally.
Century Pacific said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it would purchase the rights to manufacture, sell and distribute Hunt’s branded products in the Philippines
The acquisition will also include the transfer of manufacturing assets and inventory related to HURC’s Hunt’s product lineup, including pork and beans, tomato-based spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and marinade sauce.
“We are excited about expanding our portfolio with brands and products that resonate with Filipino consumers. Hunt’s is a welcome addition with its local dominance in pork and beans, its emerging presence in condiments and its potential to be another source of growth for us,” said Century Pacific president and chief executive Christopher Po.
“This will be an accretive acquisition for us and we see a number of potential synergies. These include synergies in the supply chain, distribution, manufacturing, and marketing,” Po said.
URC said in a separate disclosure to the stock exchange the sale of Philippine license for Hunt’s was in line with the company’s thrust to focus on core businesses which are snack foods and beverages
“We have recently conducted a strategic review of our portfolio and have shifted our focus on our core categories namely snack foods and beverages which are geared towards convenience and on-the-go occasions,” URC president and chief executive Lance Gokongwei said.
“Given this shift, URC and our joint venture partner, ConAgra have decided to spinoff the Hunts brand to Century Pacific Food.We believe that their strength in the grocery category can further add value and take the Hunt’s business to new levels of growth in the years to come,” Gokongwei said.
Hunt’s maintains an expanded product portfolio, which includes other tomato-based culinary sauces and dominates the ready-to-eat canned beans category with an 86-percent market share locally.
“We are excited to work with ConAgra to further grow the brand locally,” Po said.