US foods giant Heinz yesterday snapped up the maker of HP Foods in a £472.3 million deal which puts HP and Lea & Perrins sauces under the same roof as its own Heinz Ketchup brand.

HP produces its famous brown source at its factory in Aston, Birmingham, while Lea & Perrins sauces are produced in Worcester.

Heinz, based in Pittsburgh, said the cash deal with French firm Danone would help it focus more around four core areas comprising condiments, meals and snacks, infant nutrition and foodservices.

Danone, which acquired HP Foods from industrial conglomerate Hanson for £199 million in 1988, is looking to concentrate on its three core businesses - water, yoghurts and biscuits.

Analysts said Heinz was buying a collection of largely UK domestic brands such as HP and Daddies sauces, with only Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce a truly global brand.

"It's a highly profitable business and will fit well with Heinz, but it's not a top-notch price because it's not a top notch business," said analyst David Lang at Investec Securities.

Heinz already operates from five regional centres in the UK and employs more than 5,000 staff.

Its largest site is in Wigan and makes beans and soups, while it also has factories at Leamington Spa and Westwick producing frozen desserts.

Last month it unveiled plans to dispose of a number of its weaker European businesses.

Heinz said it expected the acquisition to be accretive in the first full fiscal year and to close in the next few weeks pending all regulatory approvals.

Danone chief financial officer Emmanuel Faber said the HP business had annual sales of 240 million euros (£161 million), which meant the purchase price valued the business at 2.5 to three times sales.

The price amounted to 11 times its earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

Mr Faber said the cash from the deal and from the sale of a stake in Spanish brewer Mahou would enable the French food company to be more active in share buybacks and that it was on track to hit its targets for 2005.

"We are very confident to deliver what we have targeted for 2005," he said, adding that the group would be more active on share buybacks in the second half than in the first half.

Heinz chief executive William Johnson said: "The acquisition of these brands is consistent with our strategy to drive growth in our profitable and expanding core condiments and sauces category."

Heinz fought off a strong field of potential buyers including UK groups Associated British Foods and Premier Foods and also McCormick & Co.