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Beak and Johnston purchase Pitango

New Zealand soup and ready-made meal maker Pitango has been bought by Sydney-based Beak and Johnston, owner of brands such as Mr. Beak’s and Cleavers.

Pitango was part of Gourmet Food Holdings, which was placed in the hands of receivers Ferrier Hodgson in late-November last year. GFH was the parent company of brands including Rosella, Water Wheel and Aristocrat.

GFH, which owed as much as $50 million to National Australia Bank, was owned by private equity company Crescent Capital, who also failed in their management of Australian Music Group and sold AMG at a loss last year.

The dollar value of the acquisition would not be disclosed by Pitango’s general manager Wade Gillooly, but he mentioned that it was going from being private equity-owned to family-owned, and said that the buyout would boost its manufacturing operations.

"What [the sale] means is that we preserve the jobs of our production, office and administration staff in Auckland and it allows us to continue to work with all of our suppliers in New Zealand," Gillooly told Fairfax Media.

Pitango produces organic products including soups, curries and pastas, which are sold in supermarkets.

Acording to a profile of Beak and Johnston, the company was established in 1986, exports to more than 15 countries and has revenues exceeding $300 million.

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