Finsbury Food to buy Fletchers Group of Bakeries for £56m

Private equity investment firm Vision Capital will sell Fletchers Group of Bakeries to Finsbury Food Group for approximately £56m.

Fletchers was acquired by Vision Capital from Northern Foods in 2007, and the company saw a significant turnaround.

Under Vision’s control, Fletchers has developed high quality products across a broad category of fresh and frozen baked goods. The company has also built a large and growing food service business.

Vision is hoping that the business will complement Finsbury’s cake and bread manufacturing sectors and help provide additional sales opportunities.

Vision Capital partner Andrew Rich said: "Fletchers is a strong, profitable and growing company with a leading position in the fresh and frozen baked goods industry.

"Finsbury is the ideal partner to take Fletchers into the next phase of its development and the combined group is well positioned to prosper."

Fletchers’ managing director Stephen Holding said: "Fletchers has undergone a significant transformation since it was acquired by Vision Capital in 2007, and I am very proud of the hard work and dedication of our colleagues, which has made the company what it is today.

"This is an exciting next step for the company and I’m looking forward to the opportunities that being part of Finsbury Foods will bring."

After the merger, the group will be one of the largest speciality bakery groups in the UK, with sales of approximately £300m.

It is expected to benefit from complementary product ranges, new food service channels and retail customer diversification, as well as the benefits of significant capital investment and a multi-channel platform for further acquisitions in the future.

Finsbury Food Group CEO John Duffy said: "Fletchers is a highly complementary business, which broadens the Finsbury UK speciality bakery product, customer and channel growth potential and will provide a strong platform for the group to address the food service markets.

"We believe the enlarged group will be in a strong position for new licensing arrangements, joint ventures and stronger customer and brand relationships.

"By servicing both the cake and bakery market, through both retail and food service, the enlarged group will have a diversified product and customer offering."

The agreement will be finalised following regulatory and shareholder approval.