“The Quero brand is a natural fit with the global capabilities of Heinz and gives us a scalable growth platform in Brazil, a key emerging market with nearly 200 million consumers and a growing economy,” said William R. Johnson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the H.J. Heinz Co. “This transaction is another significant step in our emerging markets strategy. With Quero, Heinz will be well positioned in the key emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China as well as Indonesia. We expect the Quero business to approximately double Heinz’s sales in Latin America in the first full year.”
Mr. Johnson said Heinz expects emerging markets to generate more than 20% of its total sales in fiscal 2012, which begins on April 28. The company expects the Quero acquisition will be modestly dilutive to earnings in fiscal 2012 as the company invests in the business, but accretive to earnings starting in fiscal 2013.
