DLA Piper has advised The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., a leading natural and organic products company, on the acquisition of Tilda Ltd (Tilda), a premium Basmati and specialty rice products company.

The acquisition will provide Hain Celestial with new markets to expand their other global brands in the United Kingdom, the Middle East, North Africa, India and Europe.

Leading the DLA Piper team was Bob Bishop, Head of Corporate in the UK. Support was provided by Jon Kenworthy (partner), Oliver Williams (senior associate), Tim Baumgartner (senior associate) and Ani Grigorian (associate).

Irwin D. Simon, founder, president and chief executive officer of Hain Celestial, said: "We are very excited by the strategic acquisition of Tilda, which expands our worldwide better-for-you product portfolio into the premium Basmati rice category along with other specialty rice products. We plan to grow the Tilda brand further using our existing solid distribution platform in the U.S., Canada and Europe with Basmati and ready-to-heat rice product offerings."

Bob Bishop added: "Food & Beverage is a key sector for us, and Hain Celestial is a great client of the firm. In the last couple of years we have worked with them on a number of interesting deals, including The Daniels Group acquisition (New Covent Garden Soup Co., Johnson's Juice Co., and Farmhouse Fare), buying Premier Foods' sweet spreads and jellies business (including Hartley's, Sun–Pat, Gale's, Robertson's and Frank Cooper's) and their purchase of Ella's Kitchen. The Tilda deal represents another significant milestone in the growth of Hain Celestial, bringing with it not only a power brand in the UK but also access to a number of new and exciting markets around the world."