Bakkavor Regulatory News (BAKK)

6 September 2018

Bakkavor Group plc

Bakkavor announces £12m strategic acquisition in UK Desserts

Bakkavor Group plc ("Bakkavor" or "the Group"), the leading provider of fresh prepared food, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Haydens Bakery Limited ("Haydens") from Real Good Food PLC.

Established in 1976, Haydens is a leading manufacturer of sweet bakery products for the major UK grocery retailers and provides a distribution operation for one of the UK's leading retailers1. The business operates from two sites in Devizes, Wiltshire, and has c.480 employees.

Capital investment of £15m over the last 18 months has now transformed the bakery operations, adding significant capacity, expanding the existing footprint and upgrading equipment and infrastructure.

For Bakkavor, the acquisition of Haydens:

· increases the breadth and depth of our desserts range, extending our offering in in-store bakery;

· supports growth in our Desserts business, which, combined with the ongoing major expansion of our facility in Newark, will provide increased and high quality capacity, as well as state-of-the-art automation; and

· is expected to realise meaningful operational synergies by incorporating Haydens into our existing business.

In the financial year ended 31 March 2017, Haydens generated £31.3m of revenues and was break-even at the operating profit level.

Total consideration is £12m, subject to adjustment in relation to levels of working capital and net debt. This comprises £9.6m in cash and £2.4m of existing finance leases.

Commenting on the acquisition, Agust Gudmundsson, Chief Executive Officer of Bakkavor, said:

"We are pleased to welcome Haydens to the Bakkavor Group. It is a business which shares Bakkavor's passion for providing outstanding service, quality and value to its customers and has a reputation for supplying some of the best tasting sweet treats to the UK's leading retailers. This acquisition will grow both our capacity and product offering in the Desserts category, and we are delighted to be welcoming Haydens' management and the wider team to our business."

1 The transaction excludes Chantilly, a Devon based patisserie facility which produces hand-assembled frozen desserts. The financial results of Haydens including Chantilly for the financial year ended 31 March 2017 contributed £33.9m of revenue and an operating loss of £0.03m.

Enquiries 

Tulchan Communications +44 (0) 20 7353 4200

Catherine James, Will Smith, Jessica Reid

ABOUT BAKKAVOR

Bakkavor is the leading provider in the large and fast-growing UK fresh prepared food (FPF) market, which consists of the four categories of Meals, Salads, Desserts and Pizza & Bread, and has a growing international presence in the US and China.

In the UK the Group is the number one producer by market share in all four FPF categories, supplying all of the UK's leading grocery retailers, including Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

The International segment has operations in the US and China, supplying both retail and foodservice customers.

LEI number: 213800COL7AD54YU9949