Dealmakers negotiate logistics acquisition creating £40m-turnover business
LOGISTICS group S J Bargh has increased its turnover above £40m with the acquisition of a 120-year-old family business, in a deal negotiated by a Leeds-based team.
RG Bassett & Sons had been controlled by the fifth generation of the family but the Stoke-on-Trent company will become part of S J Bargh Group, although its brand will continue to be used.
Claire Bassett, RG Bassett & Sons director, said: “As the owner directors at Bassetts neared their chosen retirement age a decision was made, after five generations stretching back to 1897, to join the S J Bargh family.”
Bassetts employs 100 people at its 11-acre site in Staffordshire. Its most recent accounts, for the year to March 2015, show pre-tax profits of £285,000 on a turnover of £8.7m. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
Lancaster-based S J Bargh specialises in milk collection and distribution and its customers include Arla Foods, Joseph Heler, and Müller Milk. The enlarged group has more than 500 employees across the North West and Midlands, along with 120,000 square feet of warehousing.
Bassetts were advised by the Leeds corporate team of Mills & Reeve.
Mills & Reeve corporate partner Paul Johnson, said: “We were pleased to advise the Bassett family on the sale to S J Bargh. The deal. which will ensure the Bassetts name will continue and the family can rest assured that the company is in the hands of a thriving business which shares its beliefs and values.”
Anthony Finlayson-Green, managing director of S J Bargh Group, added: “We made this strategic step because there is tremendous synergy between our companies and we are delighted Bassetts are joining the S J Bargh family. The customers of both companies will also benefit as together we offer greater scale with a larger team, more vehicles and warehousing, and a host of complementary services.”
