As far as national icons go, you’d be hard pressed to find something more sacrosanct than a Four’n Twenty pie.
Enjoyed during a tradie’s lunch break (7:30 AM), around midday by self-hating desk jockies, and even the dead of night after a hearty session of accruing tomorrow’s regrets, Four’n Twenty pies have always been there for millions of Aussies, even when our most stable institutions have failed us.
So imagine our surprise to learn something as quintessentially Australian as Four’n Twenty – something we’d assumed would always be 100% Australian-owned – had been bought wholesale by Hong King private investment giant, Pacific Alliance Group, in a blockbuster deal reportedly valued at over $550 million.
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Pacific Alliance Group, which already owns Red Rooster and Oporto parent company Craveable Brands, has broken out the chequebook to acquire domestic operation Patties Foods. The headline-making development also entails a transfer of ownership for the likes of Nanna’s, Herbert Adams, Chefs Pride, Boscastle, Leader, as well as Snowy River Brands.
Patties Foods CEO Paul Hitchcock explained how this was all a resounding vote of confidence in the company’s business and growth strategy, adding there is now further investment and innovation to be unlocked.
“It is recognition of our reputation as a highly respected food manufacturer in Australia and New Zealand with a long list of loved food brands, said Hitchcock via statement.
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“The acquisition presents a significant opportunity.”
In addition to Patties Foods / Four’n Twenty, Pacific Alliance Group are also understood to have purchased Lean Cuisine owner Vesco Foods in the same $550 million deal, effectively making it a major player in the frozen section of our supermarkets in one fell swoop.
Four’n Twenty was established 75 years ago by pie-maker Leslie Thompson McClure in Bendigo, Victoria. McClure would later sell his humble operation to Peters Ice Cream in 1960, before being snapped up by Simplot circa 1995, then Patties Foods in 2003.
Pacific Alliance Group technically represents the brand’s fifth custodian to date.
