French yeast producer Lesaffre has sold its UK bakery and distribution company, BFP Holdings - which supplies Greggs and Krispy Kreme - to a private equity firm.
London-based Zimt Holdings bought the Kent company, which supplies ambient, chilled and frozen food products to around 4,000 businesses and saw turnover of £75m in 2013, for an undisclosed sum.
BFP Wholesale managing director Nick Harris said it had found a strong partner that was fully aligned to its goals and had the resources to help it drive the next phase of its development.
The PE firm, which is led by Sebastian Sipp, formerly of GMT Partners, and David Burresi of BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Citi, said the Sevenoaks-based firm had a strong management team and a well-established presence, making it “ideally positioned for growth”.
“By deploying our significant operational and management expertise we will be working closely with the management team to develop BFP’s purchasing and distribution processes and will invest in its personnel and information systems to enable the firm to take advantage of a fast-changing environment,” Sipp said.
The company was well placed to extend a leading position in the highly fragmented bakery distribution sector through acquisition and organic growth, it added.
Lesaffre’s general manager baking Western Europe Marc Casier said the company was pleased to have found “an ambitious” buyer for BFP as it sought to refocus on its core yeast business. It has also ramped up development of products for the bioethanol and bio-chemical industries.
Last month it bought yeast technology start-up Butalco after launching a dedicated value-added fermentation business, Leaf Technologies, in March.
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