Food group snaps up meat supplier

Malton-based Eight Fifty Food Group, a multi-protein food group controlled by CapVest Partners, has acquired M&M Walshe Holdings a global supplier of pork, bacon and sous-vide meat for an undisclosed consideration.

M&M Walshe, trades as RibWorld, Callan Bacon and Stirchley Bacon, employs approximately 550 people across its three sites located in Tipperary and Kilkenny in the Republic of Ireland and Redditch in the United Kingdom.

Following he acquisition, M&M Walshe will be integrated into Eight Fifty’s pork division, with it’s sous-vide products complementing the firm’s existing customer offering.

Once the transaction is complete, Eight Fifty will have sales of about £1.4bn and will employ more than 7,500 people across 19 sites in the UK and Ireland.

Di Walker, group chief executive of Eight Fifty Food Group, said: “Eight Fifty have been working with the Walshe and Clohessy families for over 30 years and have seen their business grow significantly to become one of Europe’s largest sous-vide specialists today.

“We’re delighted to welcome M&M Walshe into the Eight Fifty Food Group and look forward to continue growing with them.”

Commenting on behalf of M&M Walshe, John Walshe, said: “The interest shown in our business is a great reflection of the quality of our products, our people and our loyal customer base.

“We look forward to working with Di Walker and the Eight Fifty team and seeing the business flourish under new ownership.”

Jason Rodrigues, Partner at CapVest, said: “M&M Walshe is an exciting first step for Eight Fifty out of the UK, and underlines our ambition to become a market leader in European food.

“We look forward to working closely with management to accelerate investment and leverage the Eight Fifty platform to drive European sales of their sous-vide products.”

The deal is subject to standard closing conditions and approval from the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.