Food company Glanbia has completed the $217 million acquisition of ThinkThin, a US firm that specialises in protein bars.

Founded by Lizanne Falsetto in 1999 and based in Southern California since January 2014, the company primarily distributes its products in food, natural and mass retail channels in the US.

Net sales for the twelve months to the end of September 2015 were $84 million, with a compound average growth rate for the previous three years of 31 per cent.

Glanbia said ThinkThin will increase the company’s performance nutrition’s presence in the bar category and “provide exposure to the rapidly expanding nutrition bar segment which is currently valued at $2.8 billion in US retail”.

The transaction will be marginally earnings accretive in 2016 and has been funded by debt from existing facilities.