DUBLIN, IRELAND — The Valeo Foods Group, a consumer packaged goods company based in Ireland, will acquire the European chips business from the Campbell Soup Co., Camden, N.J., for approximately $80 million. The business includes Kettle Foods Ltd., which is based in the United Kingdom, and Yellow Chips B.V., which is based in The Netherlands.
Campbell Soup will retain the Kettle brand business in the United States and all other geographies except for Europe and the Middle East, according to the terms of the agreement. Campbell Soup said it intends to grow the Kettle brand within its Snacks business unit portfolio.
Valeo Foods Group has operations in Ireland, the U.K. and continental Europe, and annual sales of approximately $930 million. Products in the company’s portfolio include snacks, sweets, baking and meal ingredients, and beverages.
During the past few months, Campbell Soup has been divesting many of its businesses outside the United States. In early July, the company announced plans to sell the Kelsen Group to an affiliate of the Ferrero Group for $300 million. A few weeks later, Campbell Soup announced it will sell its Arnott’s snack business and its simple meals and shelf-stable beverages business, both of which are in Australia and Asia Pacific, to the private equity firm KKR & Co., Inc., for $2.2 billion.