Hain Celestial acquires Mona Group with its plant-based Joya and Happy brands

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:  HAIN), a leading organic and natural products company with operations in North America, Europe and India providing consumers with A Healthier Way of Life™, today announced the acquisition by Hain Celestial Europe through one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Mona Group ("Mona"), a leader in plant-based foods and beverages with facilities in Germany and Austria.  Mona offers a wide range of organic and natural products under the Joya® and Happy® brands, including soy, oat, rice and nut-based drinks as well as plant-based yogurts, desserts, creamers, tofu and private label products, sold to leading retailers in Europe, primarily in Austria and Germany and eastern European countries. 

"We are excited by the acquisition of Mona, which expands our presence in plant-based products in Europe, solidifying our leadership position in the category with the addition of Joya® and Happy® to our Dream™, Lima® and Natumi® brands.  This acquisition increases the scale of our plant-based operations to over $100 million net sales in Europe in a growing category of branded and private label products, while providing us with additional manufacturing capacity," said Irwin D. Simon, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial.  "Mona also presents us with the opportunity to expand our European product offerings of Lima®, Ella's Kitchen®, Frank Cooper's®, Robertson's® and Sun-Pat® brands into Austria, Germany and other central and eastern European countries, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.  We plan to create sales opportunities with plant-based beverages and yogurt, which we have successfully introduced in the United States, expand the refrigerated category into desserts, extend the reach of our global brands, including Celestial Seasonings®, Terra® and Tilda®, and leverage our existing infrastructure, manufacturing and research and development expertise for cost efficiencies."

In calendar year 2014 Mona had approximately $50 million in net sales and is expected to be accretive to Hain Celestial's earnings in fiscal year 2016.  Mona's plant-based business, which was established in 2001, was owned by several venture capital groups and members of current and former management.

"As a leading natural and organic foods company in Europe, we believe plant-based foods will become more and more a part of our daily diets.  With this acquisition we will be able to further expand our healthy food offerings and capitalize on plant-based eating trends," commented Bart Dobbelaere, Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial Europe.  "In addition plant-based foods and beverages are more sustainable and lighten the footprint we leave behind."

"We welcome Wolfgang Goldenitsch, Chief Executive Officer of Mona, who will report to Bart Dobbelaere, and we look forward to working with Wolfgang and Peter Garherr, Chief Financial Officer, and their team to expand our business in Europe," concluded Irwin Simon.

With the acquisition of Mona, Hain Celestial Europe will have three facilities producing plant-based beverages, two in Germany and one in Austria, serving the European markets.  Mona's Vienna office will be the base for expansion into eastern Europe.