US meat giant OSI Group has expanded its presence in the UK with the purchase of Karnova Food Group.
Karnova Food Group was created last year by private equity owner Endlesss, through merging Yorkshire Premier Meat and Smithfield Murray.
The combined group is now a leading business-to-business meat supplier with annual revenue over £135m.
Smithfield Murray supplies raw poultry to retail and foodservice manufacturers, while Yorkshire Premier Meat deals in meat for ready meals, canned goods, and savoury pies.
Karnova chair Di Walker said the sale to OSI made “a great strategic fit and they will be a fantastic long-term owner for the business and its employees”.
OSI Group is a privately owned global business, headquartered in Illinois, with 67 manufacturing facilities, more than 20,000 employees, and customers in 77 countries.
It already has a significant foothold in the UK, including OSI Food Solutions UK, which was formed in 1978 to be the exclusive supplier of red meat products to McDonald’s.
Katharine Haenelt, MD of OSI UK, said the new owners had been “hugely impressed with how the business has developed under Endless’ ownership and see significant opportunities for further growth across the combined businesses”.
Endless has investments in other food companies including Hovis, KTC Edibles, and Bright Blue Food, the UK’s biggest own label cake manufacturer. It was advised on the sale by Spayne Lindsay, Squire Patton Boggs and KPMG.
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