Uneditted version of Rice News 15 Jan2014 Hain Celestial Buys Rice Brand Tilda

by Zacks Equity Research Published on January 14, 2014 | No Comments HAIN KRFT CAG GMCR

The Hain Celestial Group Inc. ( HAIN -Analyst Report) constantly endeavorsstrategic opportunities to expand its footprint in organic and natural products and in turn, "Change the Way the World Eats." Its latest attempt is the acquisition of Tilda Limited, a renowned name in Basmati rice. Tilda Limited provides a wide range of over 60 dry rice and ready-to-heat branded products in over 40 countries under the brand names Tilda, Akash Basmati and Abu Shmagh. Tilda primarily serve the markets of the United Kingdom, the Middle East and North Africa, Continental Europe, North America and India. Management believes that the buyout of Tilda will augment Hain Celestial's adjusted earnings by 6 cents to 10 cents a share during the second half of fiscalyear 2014. Last year, Tilda generated net sales of about $190 million. Acquisitions have played a vital part in Hain Celestials strategy of building market share. These acquisitions have not only widened the companys geographical presence, but have also provided opportunities to cross-sell products in the U.S., Canadian and European markets. Earlier, the company had acquired leading packaged grocery brands Hartley's, Gale's, Robertson's, Frank Cooper's and Sun-Pat from Premier Foods plc. The company also acquired Ella's Kitchen Group Ltd that offers organic baby foodproducts under approximately 80 brands and provides them in easy to carry pouches. Hain Celestial believes that strong presence of the Tilda brand in emerging markets such as the Middle East and North Africa, and India will provide it with a gateway to expand its existing brands comprising Earth's Best, Ella's Kitchen, Celestial Seasonings, Terra, Rice Dream and Almond Dream.

Currently, Hain Celestial carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Other better ranked stocks worth considering include, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. ( GMCR - Analyst Report), ConAgra Foods, Inc. ( CAG - Analyst Report) and Kraft Foods Group, Inc. ( KRFT - Analyst Report) all carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).