Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia-based Patties Foods has purchased Leader Products, an Auckland, New Zealand-headquartered manufacturer of frozen convenience foods ranging from burgers and schnitzels to hot dogs, cordon bleu, BBQ pork riblets and other products. Leader’s annual sales are reportedly in the range of $60 million.
The company, founded in 1998 by Tony Peterson and Richard Crabb, supplies foodservice, institutional and retail accounts. Among its supermarket customers are Countdown, New World and Pak’N’Save.
Patties, which has been in business for 50 years, is owned by the Pacific Equity Partners private equity group, which bought the company this summer for $232 million.
“This deal will create a market-leading food business across Australia and New Zealand,” stated Patties Foods CEO Paul Hitchcock. “Leader is a great New Zealand success story, and we are very keen to support the team in their continued growth.”
Tony Peterson, managing director of Leader Products, said that Patties “will be great long-term partner for Leader, with capital to invest in our local manufacturing capacity and our continued growth and expansion in Australasia.”
