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Listed wholesale group Kitwave has announced the acquisition of north of England independent food wholesaler Total Foodservice Solutions for £21m.
The consideration will be paid in cash, funded from Kitwave’s current banking facilities.
Established over 130 years ago, Total Foodservice delivers wholesale catering supplies of around 4,000 product lines including chilled, frozen and ambient food, non-food and cleaning products.
Total Foodservice’s depots are located in Clitheroe, Lancashire and Huddersfield, Yorkshire with customers including licensed trade and restaurants, coffee shops and sandwich bars, schools and universities and the care industry across the north of England.
Total Foodservice reported a turnover of £25.4m in the year to 30 April 2023, with profit before tax of £2m.
Its balance sheet had net assets of £8.5m and acquired balance sheet includes £4m million of cash and freehold property with a book value of £2.1m.
Kitwave said the acquisition would be immediately earnings enhancing after adding back costs relating to the transaction.
The acquisition will be incorporated into Kitwave’s existing doodservice division, which currently comprises the trading operations of David Miller Frozen Foods, MJ Baker Foodservice, Westcountry Food Holdings and HB Clark & Co.
Kitwave CEO Ben Maxted said: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Total Foodservice, which is a one-stop shop for wholesale commercial catering supplies and enables us to further expand our product range offering across the north of England and in particular Yorkshire and the north west, complementing our existing foodservice offering.
“Total Foodservice is a well-established business in the catering industry and we look forward to welcoming its team to Kitwave and integrating the business into our foodservice division.
“This acquisition is in line with Kitwave’s growth strategy, and we will continue to seek to identify further opportunities in the UK’s highly fragmented wholesale market to deliver further value to the group and its shareholders.”
Morning update
French grocery group Casino has completed the financial restructuring which has seen Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský take control of the group.
The restructuring of the troubled hypermarket group was agreed last month and implemented yesterday.
Casino is now under the control of France Retail Holdings Sàrl, which is an entity ultimately controlled by Křetínský.
The deal sees the dilution of the stake held by former owner Jean-Charles Naouri, which ends his 30-year control of the group.
The change in control has seen the naming of a new board, with former Auchan executive Laurent Pietraszewski appointed as chairman and Philippe Palazzi, formerly of Metro and Lactalis, named as chief executive.
Casino shareholders will vote on the approval of Casino’s new board on 11 June.
On the markets this morning, the FTSE 100 us up 0.3% to 7,955.8pts.
Early risers include Reckitt Benckiser, up 1.4% to 4,502p, PayPoint, up 0.9% to 506.3p and Nichols, up 0.8% to 974p.
Fallers include Wynnstay, down 2.3% to 359p, McBride, down 2.2% to 97p and Naked Wines, down 1.9% to 56.4p.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 closed flat at 7,931pts yesterday.
DS Smith was up 10.2% to 396.6p after it confirmed it had received a counter proposal from US rival International Paper worth 415p a share.
Other risers included PayPoint, up 4.7% to 502p, Sainsbury’s, up 3.6% to 271.9p, AG Barr, up 3.2% to 580p, Tate & Lyle, up 2.9% to 620p, Reckitt Benckiser, up 2% to 4,438p and Associated British Foods, up 1.7% to 2,514p.
Fallers included Kerry Group, down 3% to 80.1p, WH Smith, down 1.3% to 1,266p, Domino’s Pizza Group, down 1.3% to 352.8p and Pets at Home, down 1% to 270p.
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