Hain Celestial Affiliate Hain Pure Protein Completes Sale of Kosher Valley® Brand
MELVILLE, N.Y., May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: HAIN), a leading natural and organic products company providing consumers with A Healthy Way of Life™, today announced that Hain Pure Protein Corporation ("HPP"), a joint venture between Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P. and Hain Celestial, has sold its Kosher Valley® brand of certified kosher antibiotic-free chicken and turkey to Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc. The sale was previously announced by Hain Celestial on May 5, 2010. Under the terms of the transaction, HPP received an equity interest in Empire as consideration for its Kosher Valley ownership.
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"We are pleased that Kosher Valley has been acquired by Empire, a premier brand in kosher poultry, which will expand the breadth of its product lines and distribution reach," said Irwin D. Simon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial and a Director of HPP. "It's great for HPP to join forces with Empire, as Kosher Valley will benefit from Empire's production capabilities and reputation for delivering high-quality products to a broad market. At the same time, the antibiotic-free chicken and turkey product lines of HPP are experiencing good growth, as consumers choose poultry over red meat." Irwin Simon and Rodney Cohen of Pegasus are expected to become directors of Empire.
During the nine months ended March 31, 2010, Kosher Valley incurred losses, which had the effect of reducing Hain Celestial's diluted earnings by $0.04 per share, and therefore Hain Celestial expects the sale is expected to be accretive by approximately $0.05 to Hain Celestial's future annual earnings.
The Hain Celestial Group
The Hain Celestial Group (Nasdaq: HAIN), headquartered in Melville, NY, is a leading natural and organic products company in North America and Europe. Hain Celestial participates in many natural categories with well-known brands that include Celestial Seasonings®, Terra®, Garden of Eatin'®, Health Valley®, WestSoy®, Earth's Best®, Arrowhead Mills®, MaraNatha®, SunSpire®, DeBoles®, Gluten Free Cafe™, Hain Pure Foods®, Hollywood®, Spectrum Naturals®, Spectrum Essentials®, Walnut Acres Organic®, Imagine®, Almond Dream®, Rice Dream®, Soy Dream®, Rosetto®, Ethnic Gourmet®, Yves Veggie Cuisine®, Granose®, Realeat®, Linda McCartney®, Daily Bread™, Lima®, Grains Noirs®, Natumi®, JASON®, Zia® Natural Skincare, Avalon Organics®, Alba Botanica®, Queen Helene®, Tushies®, TenderCare® and Martha Stewart Clean™. Hain Celestial has been providing "A Healthy Way of Life™" since 1993. For more information, visit www.hain-celestial.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements under Rule 3b-6 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Words such as "expect," "expected", "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "may," "potential," "can," "position", "positioned," "should," "plan," "continue", "future", "look forward" and similar expressions, or the negative of those expressions, may identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include our belief regarding HPP's joint venture with Empire, including our statements regarding the impact on HPP's Kosher Valley brand, and the potential improvements to Hain Celestial's earnings resulting therefrom. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks include but are not limited to our ability to achieve our guidance for net sales and earnings per share in fiscal year 2010 given the recessionary environment in the U.S. and other markets that we sell products as well as economic and business conditions generally and their effect on our customers and consumers' product preferences, and our business, financial condition and results of operations; changes in estimates or judgments related to our impairment analysis of goodwill and other intangible assets as well as with respect to our valuation allowances of our deferred tax assets; our ability to implement our business and acquisition strategy, including our strategy for improving results in Europe; HPP's ability to implement its business strategy; our ability to realize sustainable growth generally and from investments in core brands, offering new products and our focus on cost containment, productivity, cash flow and margin enhancement in particular; our ability to effectively integrate our acquisitions; our ability to successfully execute our joint ventures; competition; the success and cost of introducing new products as well as our ability to increase prices on existing products; the availability and retention of key personnel; our reliance on third party distributors, manufacturers and suppliers; our ability to maintain existing contracts and secure and integrate new customers; our ability to respond to changes and trends in customer and consumer demand, preferences and consumption; international sales and operations; changes in fuel and commodity costs; the effects on our results of operations from adverse impacts of foreign exchange; changes in, or the failure to comply with, government regulations; and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's reports filed with the SEC, including the annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009 and the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, no assurance can be given as to future results, levels of activity and achievements and neither the Company nor any person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of these statements.
SOURCE The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.
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