Premium Brands Holdings Corp., a Canada-based producer, marketer and distributor of branded specialty food products, signed a definitive agreement to purchase Freybe Gourmet Foods Ltd., a Canada-based manufacturer of premium gourmet deli meats.

"This transaction provides us with another leading specialty food company that further enhances the depth and strength of our deli meats business platform," saya George Paleologou, president and CEO. "We will also be adding the Freybe name, which is one of western Canada's oldest and most iconic local brands, to our diverse portfolio of leading specialty food brands. Looking forward, we see significant opportunities to help Freybe grow its business and brand by leveraging both our deli meat platform's sales and marketing infrastructure as well as our proprietary distribution networks in the foodservice and retail channels."

"Freybe's modern production facility has significant unutilized capacity. Correspondingly, it is an ideal solution for replacing the capacity of our deli meats production facility in Richmond, BC, which is scheduled to be shut down later this year," adds Paleologou. "By transferring a significant portion of the Richmond plant's production to Freybe's nearby Langley facility instead of our production facilities in eastern Canada, we will gain significant cost and freight synergies. Furthermore, we intend to use Freybe's unutilized production capacity to support our growth in the U.S. through our Ferndale, Wash.-based business, Hempler Foods Group.”

The purchase is expected to close shortly and is subject only to customary closing conditions. Taluswood Capital Inc. acted as financial advisor to Freybe for this transaction.