Food firm gobbled up in £56m deal

Freshtime UK, the Lincolnshire food firm, has been sold to counterpart the Greencore Group, a Chesterfield manufacturer of convenience foods, in a deal worth around £56m.

Freshtime is a supplier of food to go salads, chilled snacks and prepared produce in the UK. Its products are distributed primarily in the grocery and convenience channels and the business operates from a single facility in Boston, Lincolnshire. In the 12 months ended December 2018, Freshtime generated revenues of £66m and profit before tax of £5.6m.

The acquired business will extend Greencore’s presence in food to go salads and chilled snacking. The firm already distributes a large proportion of Freshtime’s products through its Direct to Store network.

Greencore has acquired the whole of the issued share capital of The Bay Group, parent company of Freshtime UK Limited, from John Curran Mills Richmond.

Patrick Coveney, chief executive of Greencore, said: “Freshtime is an excellent strategic fit for Greencore. It is a business and a customer set that we know very well and it provides us with an exciting opportunity to enhance our product offering, add further capacity to our manufacturing network, and help drive growth and value for shareholders. We look forward very much to welcoming the Freshtime team to Greencore.”

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