Brakes has strengthened its position in the Irish market by buying a majority stake in distributor O'Kane Food Service.
The companies have worked together for more than 10 years, with O'Kane selling and delivering Brakes' goods as well as its own in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The buy-out will allow Brakes to sell more of its produce through O'Kane and give it a base upon which to expand.
This is the first time Brakes has owned equity on the island.
O'Kane has a main distribution centre in Lisburn, outside Belfast, but also has depots in Cork, Galway and Dublin.
"This will give us full exposure to the market in the north and south," said Ian Goldsmith, Brakes' strategic planning director.
Brakes said O'Kane will continue to be run as a family business headed by Bill Lattimore and his team and will trade under its logo and provide its own-label produce.
The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, has come as a surprise because Brakes is already highly leveraged following a private equity acquisition by Bain Capital for £1.4bn last September. Earlier this year Brakes bought loss-making Woodward Foodservice for an estimated £20m.
But Goldsmith insisted Brakes is "very comfortable with the financing structure and will continue to grow, whether organically or through acquisitions".
"If the right opportunities for consolidation present themselves, we will pursue them," he added.
The companies have worked together for more than 10 years, with O'Kane selling and delivering Brakes' goods as well as its own in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The buy-out will allow Brakes to sell more of its produce through O'Kane and give it a base upon which to expand.
This is the first time Brakes has owned equity on the island.
O'Kane has a main distribution centre in Lisburn, outside Belfast, but also has depots in Cork, Galway and Dublin.
"This will give us full exposure to the market in the north and south," said Ian Goldsmith, Brakes' strategic planning director.
Brakes said O'Kane will continue to be run as a family business headed by Bill Lattimore and his team and will trade under its logo and provide its own-label produce.
The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, has come as a surprise because Brakes is already highly leveraged following a private equity acquisition by Bain Capital for £1.4bn last September. Earlier this year Brakes bought loss-making Woodward Foodservice for an estimated £20m.
But Goldsmith insisted Brakes is "very comfortable with the financing structure and will continue to grow, whether organically or through acquisitions".
"If the right opportunities for consolidation present themselves, we will pursue them," he added.
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