VANCOUVER, Dec. 8, 2016 /CNW/ - Premium Brands Holdings
Corporation (TSX: PBH), a leading producer, marketer and distributor of branded specialty food products, announced today the
acquisition of a 100% interest in Toronto, ON based Diana's Seafood (Diana's). Diana's, which
has annual sales of approximately $18.0 million, is a leading supplier of a variety of fresh and
frozen seafood products to retail and foodservice customers in the Greater Toronto Area.
Diana's was founded by Diana and Nino Cicirello in 1998. Since then, they have grown the
Diana's Seafood name, which is synonymous with high quality fresh seafood, into an iconic brand in the Greater Toronto Area.
"We are very excited about Diana's joining our rapidly growing Seafood Group business platform," said Mr. George Paleologou, President and CEO of Premium Brands. "This platform, which has grown from virtually no
sales in 2007 to over $135 million in projected sales for 2016, is benefiting from a number of
consumer trends including increased consumer awareness of the health benefits associated with a seafood rich diet and Canada's changing demographics, both in terms of age and ethnic mix. The Diana's transaction, which is
our Seafood Group's fifth acquisition, moves this platform one step closer to its objective of building Canada's only national seafood distribution network," added Mr. Paleologou.
"Looking forward we are also very excited by the growth opportunities created by this acquisition. The most significant of
these will be leveraging Diana's brand and customer relationships in the foodservice industry to create additional sales
opportunities for our new Ontario foodservice expansion initiative, which is scheduled to begin
operations in mid-2017. In addition, our other seafood and wholesale food businesses will be leveraging Diana's strength in certain
niche seafood products to expand their product offerings," said Mr. Paleologou.
"With respect to the Diana's business specifically, not only do we expect it to benefit from our extensive supply chain related
resources, but it will also be able to leverage our new Ontario foodservice facility to accelerate
the growth of its foodservice distribution business, which in recent years has been constrained by warehouse capacity limitations,"
added Mr. Paleologou.
"I am very excited by the opportunity to join the Premium Brands Group," said Mrs. Diana
Cicirello; President & CEO of Diana's. "We have chosen to partner with them based on their reputation as a long
term and respectful investor in food businesses and are very excited about our future together," added Mrs. Cicirello.
Consistent with how Premium Brands' other seafood businesses are accounted for, Diana's will be included in its Premium Food
Distribution segment.
About Premium Brands
Premium Brands owns a broad range of leading specialty food manufacturing and differentiated food distribution businesses with
operations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario,
Quebec, Nevada, Ohio,
Arizona and Washington State. The Company services a diverse base of customers located across
North America and its family of brands and businesses include Grimm's, Harvest, McSweeney's,
Piller's, Freybe, Expresco, Belmont Meats, Hempler's, Isernio's, Fletcher's U.S., Direct Plus, Audrey's, SK Food Group, OvenPride,
Bread Garden Go, Hygaard, Quality Fast Foods, Deli Chef, Creekside Bakehouse, Stuyver's Bakestudio,
Island City Baking, Conte Foods, Larosa Foods, Gourmet Chef, Duso's, Centennial Foodservice, B&C Food Distributors, Shahir,
Wescadia, Harlan Fairbanks, Maximum Seafood, Ocean Miracle, Hub City Fisheries, Diana's Seafood,
C&C Packing and Premier Meats.
www.premiumbrandsholdings.com
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward looking statements with respect to the Company, including its business operations, strategy
and financial performance and condition. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward looking words such as
"may", "could", "should", "would", "will", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "believe" or
"continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations.
Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward looking statements are reasonable and represent the
Company's internal expectations and belief as of December 8, 2016, such statements involve unknown
risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control which may cause its actual performance and results in future periods to differ
materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward looking
statements.
Some of the factors that could affect future results and could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking statements contained herein include: (i) changes in the cost of raw materials used in the production of the
Company's products; (ii) seasonal and/or weather related fluctuations in the Company's sales; (iii) changes in consumer
discretionary spending resulting from changes in economic conditions and/or general consumer confidence levels; (iv) changes in the
cost of finished products sourced from third party manufacturers; (v) changes in the Company's relationships with its larger
customers; (vi) access to commodity raw materials; (vii) potential liabilities and expenses resulting from defects in the Company's
products; (viii) changes in consumer food product preferences; (ix) competition from other food manufacturers and distributors; *
execution risk associated with the Company's growth and business restructuring initiatives; (xi) risks associated with the
Company's business acquisition strategies; (xii) changes in the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar; (xiii)
new government regulations affecting the Company's business and operations; (xiv) the Company's ability to raise the capital needed
to fund its growth initiatives; (xv) labor related issues including potential disputes with employees represented by labor unions
and labor shortages; (xvi) the loss and/or inability to attract key senior personnel; (xvii) fluctuations in the interest rates
associated with the Company's funded debt; (xviii) failure or breach of the Company's information systems; (xix) financial exposure
resulting from credit extended to the Company's customers; (xx) the malfunction of critical equipment used in the Company's
operations; (xxi) livestock health issues; (xxii) international trade issues; and (xxiii) changes in environmental, health and
safety standards. Details on these risk factors as well as other factors can be found in the Company's 2015 MD&A, which is
filed electronically through SEDAR and is available online at www.sedar.com.
Unless otherwise indicated, the forward looking statements in this document are made as of December 8,
2016 and, except as required by applicable law, will not be publicly updated or revised. This cautionary statement expressly
qualifies the forward looking statements in this press release.
SOURCE Premium Brands Holdings Corporation
