Kerry Group has made its first foray into the international fragrance market with the purchase of New-Jersey-based Manheimer, one of four businesses being acquired for €170 million.

The food group said that, along with Manheimer, it had bought Los-Angeles-based Flavurence, Laboratorios Krauss in Mexico and Italy's Fructamine.

The acquisitions represent "a further major step" in broadening the group's flavour technical base and in progressing its regional development and business expansion programme in the flavours division, Kerry said.

The company did not give a breakdown of the price paid for each business, other than to say Manheimer was the largest of the four and Laboratorios Krauss the smallest. All four were purchased from private owners.

The businesses had combined annual revenues of €110 million in 2003 and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation of €15 million.

Manheimer supplies natural flavours to the beverage, confectionery, meat and soup industries but also has a separate arm that develops and markets fragrances for the home and for personal care, household and industrial products.

"Manheimer Fragrances represents the group's first entry into the specialist fragrance market, where rapidly changing consumer dynamics are also providing strong growth opportunities in home-environmental, air care and personal care products," Kerry Group chief executive Mr Hugh Friel said.

Kerry was attracted to Flavurence for its location on the west coast of the US, where it is the biggest flavours business. It specialises in natural fruit flavours, particularly tropical and exotic.

Laboratorios Krauss is headquartered in Mexico City and "establishes an important regional platform for... growth and development in Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean," Kerry said.

Fructamine, which is based in Bergamo in northern Italy and has representative offices in France, Germany, Spain and Britain, advances the position of Kerry's flavours business in European markets, the company said.

The acquisitions are expected to be modestly earnings positive in the current year.

The latest purchases bring Kerry's acquisition spending to nearly €600 million to date this year. In March, Kerry moved into the food pharmaceuticals sector with the €350 million purchase of Quest Food Ingredients from ICI.

Shares in Kerry fell 2 per cent to €16.00 in Dublin last night.