The Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA) share price has continued its strong run and hit a new 52-week high of $7.12 during trade on Monday.
This latest gain has stretched the food company's year-to-date return to an impressive 65%.
Why are its shares racing higher?
The key catalyst for the strong gain that the Bega Cheese share price has made this year was of course the acquisition of Mondelez's Australian grocery business.
The $460 million game-changing acquisition, which includes the iconic Vegemite brand, completed in July and is expected to be significantly accretive to its earnings.
According to management, the transaction is forecast to contribute between $40 million and $45 million in EBITDA over the first 12 months.
This will be a sizeable lift on FY 2017 where the company generated normalised EBITDA of $70 million.
