The transaction includes Hain Pure Protein's FreeBird and Empire Kosher businesses.
The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., Lake Success, N.Y., entered into a definitive agreement to sell all of its equity interest in Hain Pure Protein Corp., which includes the FreeBird and Empire Kosher businesses, to Aterian Investment Partners III, LP, New York, for $80 million.
"We are pleased to have entered into an agreement for the sale of our remaining Hain Pure Protein businesses," says Mark Schiller, president and CEO. "This divestiture is another step forward in simplifying our organization aligned with our transformational strategic plan, as we aggressively pursue margin-enhancing initiatives to fuel long-term sustainable growth and profitability. We expect the sale of Hain Pure Protein to also help improve our balance sheet, as we generate cash from the sale with which we plan to use in part to pay down debt. We believe these non-core brands will generate better results under the ownership of an organization that is focused on the protein category."