BBF agrees to acquire Sargents Bakeries
Sargents reported operating profit of £1.3m from annual sales of £23.5m in the year to 30 June 2020, according to accounts posted on Companies House. Almost £22m of that revenue was generated in the UK. Most of the rest came from Europe, with a modest amount generated by activity in Australia.
As a result of the deal, BBF will operate six sites and will continue to be led by Jonathan Lill as chief executive officer, supported by the BBF board of directors. The site in Doncaster will continue to trade under the name Sargents Bakeries Limited.
The decision by BBF represents the latest acquisition in the bakery sector after an agreement was clinched to acquire Wholebake by Elysian Capital III at the start of this month.
Complementary
“This is another strong acquisition for BBF, our people and our customers," said Lill. "Sargents’ product range and customer base are very complementary and the acquisition will enable us to offer customers even greater flexibility and innovation.
“Sargents has had a very challenging time recently and we were keen to step in immediately to protect both continued supply to its valued customers and its loyal employees.
“Across both businesses, we remain committed to continuing to invest and deliver great quality, service and innovation to our customers.”
Acquired by Endless in 2015
BBF was acquired in September 2015 by the private equity investor, Endless. The acquisition of Sargents is being funded through existing BBF facilities.
The Endless LLP deal team was led by Richard Harrison, Lee Abbott and James Warburton. BBF and Endless were advised by Walker Morris LLP (Richard Naish, Claire Askew and Kayleigh Watson) and the KPMG tax team, led by Steve Heath.
BBF announced it was recruiting for 65 new jobs to support demand following a recent uplift in sales. in early 2018, the company bought Greencore Group's cakes and desserts business, which produces own-label cakes for retailers including Marks & Spencer and Asda.
