M&A
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NewsBakkavor deal inches closer as Greencore agrees to sell off factory
Greencore’s £1.2bn takeover of chilled rival Bakkavor has been greenlit by the CMA, after the markets watchdog accepted in principle the food giant’s plan to sell off its Bristol sauces and soups plant
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NewsMade Uncommon buys James Cadbury’s Love Cocoa for undisclosed sum
Love Cocoa was founded by John Cadbury’s great-great-great grandson in 2016
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NewsKimberly-Clark acquires Listerine owner Kenvue to create $32bn giant
Personal care multinational Kimberly-Clark has swooped to acquire consumer health company Kenvue in a deal worth almost $50bn, bringing together brands such as Huggies, Kleenex and Andrex with Johnson’s, Listerine and Neutrogena
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NewsNatures Way Foods acquired by Taylor Farms for undisclosed sum
The acquisition of Natures Way Foods marks an ‘important extension’ of Taylor Farms’ footprint
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NewsTGI Fridays UK operations sold to worldwide brand manager
Sugarloaf will take control of almost 50 UK sites
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NewsPrinces Group prices IPO at bottom of the range in £1.16bn London float
Princes Group is set to float on the London Stock Exchange this morning, pricing its shares at the bottom end of the projected range
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NewsDeal volumes soften in Q3 but confidence remains
Landmark deals such as the combination of Greencore and Bakkavor and the merger of Kingsmill and Hovis buoyed ongoing optimism in food & drink M&A activity, despite momentum slowing in the third quarter
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NewsFarmison & Co split up after sale of brand and factory site
The sale of Farmison & Co to Scottish butcher Donald Russell had the potential to create ‘one of the largest DTC businesses in the premium meat space’
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NewsGranarolo: Italian dairy giant acquires UK’s West Horsley Dairy
Granarolo said the move was specifically aimed at boosting customer reach, particularly across the London market
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NewsSpayne Lindsay adds former PwC partner to team of deal advisors
Corporate finance firm Spayne Lindsay & Co has expanded its team of dealmakers with the appointment of Neil Sutton as senior advisor
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NewsCMA raises Greencore Bakkavor competition concerns
Greencore and Bakkavor must address concerns from the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) in the own-label chilled sauces category to avoid an in-depth investigation of the £1.2bn merger of the two food groups
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NewsAustralian dairy giant Brownes establishes production in UK
The supplier – Australia’s oldest dairy company – has acquired a facility in Berkshire previously owned by the co-packer it used to bring its Hunt & Brew premium ready-to-drink coffee range to the UK in 2024
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NewsWe expected more from Costa Coffee, Coca-Cola CEO admits
CEO James Quincey said coffee remained ‘a super attractive category’ but admitted Costa was ‘not where we want it to be’
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NewsPrinces Group sets IPO valuation at £1.2bn
The Liverpool-headquartered food company revealed this morning it had set the price range for the upcoming IPO at 475p to 590p per share
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Comment & OpinionWhy nostalgia isn’t enough to save Pizza Hut’s dine-in dream
It’s been a challenging year for the whole Pizza Hut brand, which has struggled having not ‘picked a lane’
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NewsDawn Meats takeover of New Zealand’s Alliance gets green light from farmers
The result at a special general meeting means Dawn Meats will buy a 65% holding in Alliance, with the farmer owners retaining the remaining 35%
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NewsCoca-Cola HBC buys African bottler for $2.6bn
Coca-Cola HBC supplies 28 markets including Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
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NewsPizza Hut UK swoops for dine-in restaurants but 68 sites at risk
Sixty-eight Pizza Hut restaurants remain at risk of closing
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NewsSupreme buys Slimfast in £20m deal
Supreme has picked up dieting brand Slimfast for £20m in a bid to tap the boom in weight loss jabs
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Comment & OpinionYou can’t spreadsheet a sandwich: lessons from the Kraft Heinz split
Kraft Heinz’s split shows the limits of cost-cutting. In a market where private label is surging, emotion – not efficiency – keeps grocery brands valuable, says Aaron Shields, executive director of experience strategy at Landor