The Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ:  HAIN), a leading organic and natural products company providing consumers with A Healthier Way of Life, announced the acquisition of the remaining 51.3 percent of Hain Pure Protein Corp. (HPP) that it did not already own from an affiliate of Pegasus Capital Advisors LP. The purchase price of HPP was $40 million.   

HPP, a leading antibiotic-free and organic poultry company, offers a full range of fresh and frozen FreeBird® chicken and Plainville Farms® turkey and private label products in the United States.  In fiscal year 2014, HPP is expected to generate over $230 million in net sales, a double digit increase over the prior year, and is expected to be accretive to Hain Celestial's earnings in fiscal year 2015 by $0.03 to $0.05 per diluted share. Hain Celestial plans to continue to improve HPP's results by leveraging its sales network, marketing and administrative functions and improving productivity.  

"We are very excited about the strategic acquisition of HPP.  Our joint venture has successfully grown from incubation to over $200 million in net sales by focusing on antibiotic-free and organic poultry," said Irwin D. Simon, founder, president and CEO of Hain Celestial.  "While we have enjoyed partnering with Pegasus for many years, having Freebird chicken and Plainville Farms turkey as part of Hain Celestial's branded product portfolio provides us with a wide array of Farm to Table product offerings from fresh to deli and food service in a growing category that appeals to those seeking "the pure foods trend", including our core natural and organic consumers."  

All FreeBird and Plainville Farms products carry the Earthwise® banner on packaging, which signifies humanely-raised and vegetarian-fed poultry from family farms, without the use of growth hormones or antibiotics.  HPP's customers include grocery and natural foods retailers as well as food service outlets including fast casual and white tablecloth venues, which feature food that is grown sustainably and without genetically modified organisms.

Jay Lieberman, chief operating officer of HPP, will continue to be responsible for the day-to-day operations of HPP, which will be a separate operating segment of the Company reporting to Irwin Simon.  With HPP's expertise in food service, Ted Maguire, senior vice president of sales at HPP will now be responsible for expanding Hain Celestial's products into the food service channel currently served by HPP.

"We expect to deliver synergies through increased sales growth and cost efficiencies by effectively leveraging Hain Celestial's broader scale, as we have successfully demonstrated with our previous acquisitions," added Simon. "This is a great category for us.  We view HPP's product offerings as a complement to our existing product portfolio and a platform from which we can expand our snacks and other Hain Celestial's product offerings into food service, and we will continue to pursue other accretive strategic acquisitions for Hain Celestial in growing categories in the natural and organic sector."