as lse pfd industry food manufacturing founded 1976 as hillsdown holdings headquarters st. albans hertfordshire united kingdom key people david beever chairman gavin darby ceo products foods revenue 767.4 million 2014 15 1 net income 131.0 million 2014 15 1 number of employees 3 675 2015 1 website www.premierfoods.co.uk premier foods plc is a british food manufacturer headquartered in st albans hertfordshire . it is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse smallcap index . the group owns many well known brands including mr kipling ambrosia angel delight homepride cooking sauces sharwood s loyd grossman sauces oxo bisto and batchelors . premier foods also produce cakes under the cadbury s name using the brand under licence . premier foods primarily competes with unilever associated british foods 2 sisters food group greencore and interlink . contents 1 history 1.1 formation 1.2 expansion 1.3 restructuring 2 brands 3 references 4 external links history edit formation edit the company was founded by harry solomon and david thompson in 1975 as hillsdown holdings . his son richard thompson worked for his father after his education at haileybury . the name came from thompson s house hillsdown . in 1981 it acquired lockwood foods ltd 2 which was in administrative receivership owing approximately 11 million to creditors . lockwood foods had canneries in long sutton and forfar . in may 1987 david thompson stepped down from hillsdown holdings selling 50 % of his shares and became a non executive director . in april 1989 he sold all of his shares . in 1986 it bought various food businesses from beechams 2 and in 1990 it acquired premier brands the mbo led by paul judge of cadbury schweppes plc s foods and other products divisions which included typhoo and cadbury s drinks . 2 it was bought by the private equity company hicks muse tate and furst in 1999 . 3 in 2002 it bought nestl s ambient foods business . 4 it was first listed on the london stock exchange in 2004 . 5 expansion edit in 2004 it acquired the ambrosia brand that produced rice pudding and custard from the colman s division of unilever . in february 2005 premier foods acquired kraft foods ambient desserts businesses including bird s custard and angel delight . 6 in june 2005 marlow foods 7 makers of quorn was purchased and this was followed in october by the acquisition of cauldron consolidating the two leading brands in the meat free category . 8 that month premier foods announced the sale of typhoo tea to india s apeejay surrendra group for 140 million . immediately after the sale the sirhowy group confirmed it had acquired a 2 % stake in premier foods supporting the company s strategy to make debt reduction a priority . 9 in 2006 premier foods acquired the uk and ireland businesses of campbell s for 460 million . brands included in the deal were oxo batchelors homepride and fray bentos . the iconic campbell s soup cans had to be rebranded as batchelors condensed soup as the brand itself was not acquired but labels still carried the label formerly campbell s. same great taste . 10 similarly campbell s meatballs were rebranded as fray bentos . 11 subsequently the closure in december 2007 of the king s lynn depot where fray bentos pies are made was announced . 12 in march 2007 premier foods completed the takeover of its rival rank hovis mcdougall rhm for 1.2 billion . 13 in july 2007 premier foods announced it would close several rhm sites bristol droylsden makers of robertson s golden shred since 1890 and sharwood s brands middlewich makers of bisto and salts wythenshawe makers of sharwood s pappadoms and paxo ledbury makers of specialist jams and reading foodservices . 14 during 2008 the hovis range was re launched . in 2009 premier foods sold its frozen bakery business including le pain croustillant and sofrapain to nutrixo . 15 restructuring edit in february 2011 premier foods sold its crosse & blackwell fray bentos and smedley s businesses to princes for 182 million . 16 it followed this is march with the sale of marlow foods to exponent private equity and intermediate capital group for 205 million 331.6 million 17 resulting in the creation of a new company quorn foods . premier foods said the deal was part of a strategy to reduce its debt which built up following an acquisition spree that included hovis owner rhm and campbell s soup in the uk and ireland . 2 sisters food group bought premier foods brookes avana business in december 2011 . 18 in 2012 the company announced it had agreed a re financing package which required the disposal of additional assets . 19 premier foods reached agreements with mizkan to sell its haywards pickle and sarson s and dufrais vinegar businesses in june 20 followed by branston in october that year . 21 in august the company sold its sweet spreads and jellies division including hartley s jam sun pat peanut butter and robertson s to hain celestial group . 22 in january 2014 premier foods announced a new capital structure for the business which included an underwritten equity issue of approximately 353 million a new pension schemes agreement a high yield bond of 500 million and a new lending agreement with a smaller banking group . premier also became a grocery only business with the movement of the hovis brand into a joint venture with us based venture capital fund the gores group . premier foods sold a controlling 51 % stake in the joint venture to the gores group which saw hovis become a private company . 23 the hovis spin off was followed in june 2014 by the announcement that the company would spin off its powdered food and drinks manufacturing operations in knighton into a joint venture called knighton foods . premier foods sold a controlling 51 % stake in the venture to specialty powders holdings . 24 in 2014 the group hit controversy as it emerged they are charging suppliers for the right to sell goods and services to premier foods . one supplier said the practice known as pay and stay was like blackmail . 25 in november 2015 the group announced a new partnership with celebrity baker paul hollywood to produce a range of bread savoury and sweet mixes designed to make artisanal baking accessible to consumers . 26 the company announced a partnership with the japanese company nissin foods in march 2016 whereby the companies would distribute each other s products in their home markets . 27 premier foods also revealed it had rejected an unsolicited takeover approach from mccormick & company . nissin subsequently purchased a 17.3 % stake in the company . 28 mccormick dropped its takeover bid in april 2016 . 29 brands edit premier foods largest brands include ambrosia custards and rice pudding angel delight desserts atora shredded suet batchelors dehydrated foods super noodles and condensed soup be ro flour birds custards and desserts bisto gravy cadbury s cakes and chocolate spread manufactured under licence from cadbury plc homepride cooking sauces loyd grossman cooking sauces lyons cakes and baked goods marvel milk powder mcdougalls flour and cake mixes mother s pride bread and baked goods mr kipling cakes ormo baked goods oxo stocks and gravies paxo stuffing saxa salt sharwood s indian chinese and se asian sauces smash instant mash potato references edit a b c annual report 2014 15 . premier foods plc. a b c premier foods history hicks muse buying a british food company . new york times . 15 may 1999 . retrieved 18 march 2013 . hicks muse builds premier foods with nestle brands buy . findarticles.com . retrieved 18 march 2013 . premier foods initiated with hold . newratings.com . retrieved 18 march 2013 . premier gobbles up bird s custard . bbc news . 10 december 2004 . retrieved 18 march 2013 . premier buys quorn firm for 172m . bbc news . 6 june 2005 . retrieved 18 march 2013 . barry callebaut s sofie de lathouwer . premier buys cauldron foods for 27m . just food.com . retrieved 18 march 2013 . typhoo tea bought by indian firm . bbc news . 13 october 2005 . retrieved 18 march 2013 . uk shops to lose famous soup can . bbc news . 1 october 2007 . retrieved 18 march 2013 . campbells grocery products production line enhancements worksop united kingdom . foodprocessing technology.com . 15 june 2011 . retrieved 18 march 2013 . attwood karen 20 january 2007 . premier foods to close two factories with loss of 450 jobs . london the independent . retrieved 20 january 2007 . kamp david . premier foods pays 2.4 bn for rhm . international herald tribune . retrieved 18 march 2013 . premier foods to close six factories premier foods sells le pain croustillant & sofrapain . stamford partners . 30 april 2009 . retrieved 1 february 2016 . fletcher nick 8 february 2011 . premier foods bids goodbye to crosse & blackwell and fray bentos to cut debt . the guardian . retrieved 3 february 2016 . ebrahimi helia 25 january 2011 . premier foods sells quorn and cauldron for 205m . the telegraph . retrieved 1 february 2016 . stones mike 8 december 2011 . premier foods sells brookes avana to 2 sisters . food manufacture . retrieved 1 february 2016 . premier foods announces refinancing deal . london . 13 march 2012 . retrieved 22 january 2014 . premier foods sells sarson s and haywards for 41m . bbc news . 15 june 2012 . retrieved 1 february 2016 . branston sold by premier foods to japan s mizkan . bbc news . 30 october 2012 . retrieved 1 february 2016 . premier foods sells robertson s and hartley s for 200m . bbc news . 23 august 2012 . retrieved 1 february 2016 . brownsell alex 27 january 2014 . premier foods sells controlling stake in hovis . marketing magazine . retrieved 29 january 2016 . chesters laura 18 june 2014 . premier foods cooks up cost cutting deal for bird s custard angel delight and marvel . the independent . retrieved 25 march 2016 . premier foods accused over pay and stay practice . bbc news . premier foods teams up with bake off s paul hollywood as sales rise . the telegraph . mccormick says it may up bid for premier foods . bbc news . 24 march 2016 . retrieved 26 march 2016 . armstrong ashley 24 march 2016 . premier foods locked in shareholder row over mccormick bid . the telegraph . retrieved 26 march 2016 . serafino phil . premier foods plunges after mccormick abandons buyout talks . bloomberg . retrieved 13 april 2016 . external links edit official website v t e british pies sweet apple pie bakewell tart banoffee pie bedfordshire clanger black bun custard tart manchester tart mince pie rhubarb pie treacle tart savoury bacon and egg pie bedfordshire clanger bridie butter pie chicken and mushroom pie corned beef pie cornish pasty cottage pie cumberland pie curry pie devizes pie fish pie game pie homity pie killie pie meat and potato pie melton mowbray pork pie pork pie scotch pie shepherd s pie squab pie stargazy pie steak pie steak and kidney pie steak and oyster pie woolton pie manufacturers clark s pies dickinson & morris fray bentos ginsters higgidy holland s pies mr kipling peter s poole s pork farms pukka pies shire foods square pie wall s wrights pies retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title premier foods & oldid 741158143 categories bakeries of the united kingdombritish pie brandsbritish royal warrant holderscompanies based in hertfordshirecompanies established in 1975companies listed on the london stock exchangecornish cuisinefood brands of the united kingdomfood manufacturers of the united kingdommeat processing in the