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Four’N Twenty pies are no longer Australian: Iconic Aussie brands including tradie favorite and Lean Cuisine are snapped up by Hong Kong company for $500 million
- Australian companies Vesco Foods and Patties Foods sold for $500 million
- Patties makes Four’n’Twenty pies while Vesco makes Lean Cuisine meals
- They were sold to the Hong Kong investment company Pacific Alliance Group
- The brands join a long list of iconic Aussie products now owned by foreign companies
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A number of iconic Australian brands have been picked up by a foreign company, including footy favorite Four’n’Twenty pies, in a $500 million deal.
One of the largest private equity firms in Asia, the Hong Kong-based Pacific Alliance Group (PAG), has acquired Patties Foods, which owns brands such as Four’n’Twenty, Nanna’s, Chef’s Pride and Herbert Adams.
The company also acquired Vesco Foods, which owns brands including Lean Cuisine and Super Nature.
The exact amount of the deal has not been disclosed but is reported to be over $500 million and will allow PAG to expand their Australian offering after purchasing Red Rooster, Porto and the WA-based Chicken Treat for a similar amount. in 2019.
Patties Foods boss Paul Hitchcock said the purchase of PAG would “unlock further investment and innovation.”
“It’s a recognition of our reputation as a highly respected food producer in Australia and New Zealand with a long list of beloved food brands,” he said.
The Aussie meat pie just got a little less Aussie as the iconic Four’n’Twenty brand is picked up by a Hong Kong-based investment firm
Vesco chief Bernie Pummell said the two companies under one roof at PAG would “open up new exciting opportunities.”
Sid Khotkar, PAG’s head of private equity and director of Australia and New Zealand, said the acquisition would “increase the strength of our company in Australia and New Zealand.”
Four’n’Twenty is the latest in a long line of iconic Australian brands bought up by overseas conglomerates.
Tim Tam maker Arnott’s was bought in the 1990s by the American Campbells Soup Company and sold on to the American investment fund KKR.
The brand became synonymous with the VFL and then AFL after being founded in Bendigo, Victoria 75 years ago
Breakfast table favorite Uncle Tobys is owned by Swiss company Nestle, Fosters beer is owned by Japanese giant Asahi and Tooheys is owned by compatriot and rival Kirin.
Even country clothing maker RM Williams, about as Australian as it gets, was sold to Louis Vuitton owner LVMH in France in 2013.
But in an encouraging move, that company was bought back in 2020 by mining magnate Andrew Forrest and wife Nicola through their company Tattarang.
This makes RM Williams fully Australian-owned again and proves that it is possible for brands to return home after selling abroad.
The acquisition of Patties and Vesco by PAG is subject to regulatory approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), its New Zealand counterpart and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).