Dutch food company Wessanen has signed an agreement to buy Italian organic drinks company Abafoods for an amount of €52m.

Currently, Abafoods operates an advanced manufacturing facility in Badia Polesine.

It owns and manages around 400 hectares of organic farm land.

The company partly grows raw materials in this farm land.

Abafoods manufactures a range of cereal drinks, which are made using rice, coconut, almond, oat, spelt and soy.

In fiscal 2013, Abafoods generated net revenues of €27m, while its revenue and EBITDA are expected to improve substantially to around €39m and €6m, respectively for fiscal 2014.

Wessanen CEO Christophe Barnouin said: "The acquisition of Abafoods is a major step in the execution of our strategy. Abafoods unique expertise in dairy alternatives will strengthen our R&D and production capabilities to fuel the growth of our brands in Europe, as well as Isola Bio, in this core category.

"It also gives us critical mass in Italy – a large and growing organic market in Europe – with a leading brand position thanks to Isola Bio.

"Finally, it reinforces our commitment to organic: Abafoods, like Wessanen, are two companies, where we commit to organic food and sustainable farming."

Abafoods currently also manufactures a significant part of non-soy cereal drinks for Bjorg and Bonneterre brands of Wessanen.