Geest has extended its reach in fresh prepared foods through the acquisition of Anglia Crown Ltd for a cash consideration of £14 million, with another £2m pay-out dependent upon performance.
Anglia Crown, the second largest player in the outsourced delivered meal sector - and the leading producer of fresh meals - will provide Geest with a foothold in the £250m market for UK hospital food.
There is a growing trend for meals to be contracted to third parties. Geest believes, therefore, that there is long-term sustainable growth in this area. Anglia Crown reported operating profits of £2m in the year ended March 28, 2004. It supplies, under contract, more than 100 hospitals and operates from sites in Colchester and Manchester.
Gareth Voyle, Geest’s chief executive officer, said: "This acquisition represents an exciting opportunity for Geest and fits in perfectly with our aim to fulfil consumer demand for fresh prepared foods through new trade channels, alongside our UK retail customers.
"Anglia Crown is a stand-alone business and can be run independently of our retail food operations. However, we are confident of the reciprocal synergies we can exploit through this acquisition in areas such as purchasing, operations, product development and nutritional understanding.
"The acquisition is similar to previous bolt-on acquisitions we have made, with established customer bases, which have allowed us to develop in new markets. We expect Anglia Crown to benefit from being part of a larger fresh prepared foods group."
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