Turkish delight for United Biscuits?

THE private equity owners of United Biscuits are close to selling the group to Yildiz Holding of Turkey, according to reports.

United has several factories and bases in the North West including a group business service centre in Liverpool, a Jacobs bakery in Aintree, and a Jaffa Cakes bakery in Levenshulme, Manchester.

United Biscuits, which has annual sales of around £1.3bn, is owned by private equity owners Blackstone Group and PAI Partners who have been looking for an exit for some time.

According to the Financial Times Istanbul-based Yildiz has made an offer valuing the business at more than £2bn. It is said to be competing against Burton’s Biscuits and Kellogg’s.

In September United announced the proposed redundancy of 157 of the 630-strong workforce at the Levenshulme factory as part of an “ongoing commitment to deliver modern, efficient and competitive operations”.