Shares in UK-listed convenience food group Greencore jumped 7% this week to £2.25 after the company announced a €62m deal to acquire a large food-to-go salads business. Greencore shares are up 20% since the start of the year.

On Tuesday, Greencore announced that it had agreed a £56m (€62m) deal to buy Freshtime, a UK-based food company which specialises in food-to-go salads, chilled snacks and prepared produce.

For its 2018 financial year, Freshtime recorded sales of £66m (€73m) and made pre-tax profits of £5.6m (€6.2m). The business has gross assets of £22m (€24.3m). Greencore said the acquisition will not add to earnings in 2019 but will modestly boost earnings in 2020.

Of the other listed agri-food companies, shares in Glanbia are up 6% this week to €10.55. However, Glanbia shares are still down more than 37% since the start of 2019. Shares in UK supermarket giant Tesco are up 5% this week to £2.29, while shares in Norwegian fertiliser giant Yara are up 3% this week to NOK404 (€41).

Kerry Group shares are up 1% this week to €109.40, while Aryzta shares gained 6% to €0.74/share. On oil markets, the price of Brent crude oil is generally steady this week and is currently trading at just under $61/barrel.

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Greencore snaps up Freshtime in €62m deal