Latest news with #Bakkavor
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Greencore feels glow of warm UK weather
UK group Greencore has raised its profit forecast for the year after a 'strong" quarter helped by the weather and new contracts. Greencore said its revenue was 'particularly strong' in the 13 weeks to 27 June, the company's third quarter. Revenue increased 9.9% to £511.1m ($691.8m) supported by 'favourable summer weather' and 'new business wins". As a result, Greencore has upgraded its adjusted operating profit forecast for the full year to £118m-121m ($159m-$163m) from a projection of £114-117m. Greencore reported its volume growth was 'encouraging across most categories' in the third quarter, especially in sandwiches, sushi and ready meals. Overall manufactured volume grew 3.6% and underlying volume growth was 1.9%, ahead of the wider grocery market growth of 0.7%, the company added. The news comes as Greencore is awaiting UK competition clearance for its proposed £1.2bn ($1.63bn) acquisition of fellow UK convenience-food manufacturer Bakkavor Group. Greencore CEO Dalton Philips said: "The Greencore team has delivered another outstanding performance in Q3, with particularly strong volume momentum, aided by favourable summer weather and new business wins. 'As we enter our seasonally important Q4, our focus remains on maintaining momentum in our business. He added: 'We look forward to completing the value-creating acquisition of Bakkavor in early 2026, subject to regulatory approval, and will continue to update on progress in due course." "Greencore feels glow of warm UK weather" was originally created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Irish convenience food manufacturer Greencore raises profit forecast
Irish convenience food manufacturer Greencore has raised its profit expectations for the year driven by a strong performance over its most recent quarter, the company said in a trading update. According to the company, in the 13 weeks ending on June 27, revenue at the company increased 9.9% to £511.1m. Its food-to-go category saw revenue of £360.7m (€418.17m) up 9.2%, while revenue in its other convenience categories increased 11.4% to £150.4m Overall manufactured volume grew 3.6% during the period with volume growth 'encouraging' across most categories, particularly in sandwiches, sushi and ready meals, according to the company. The company said while it remains cautious around the uncertain UK economic environment, alongside continued inflationary pressures, it still revised upwards its adjusted operating profit guidance for the year which is now in the range of £118-121m. The company's previous guidance, issued on May 15, forecasted adjusted operating profit of between £114-117m for the year. Chief executive of Greencore Dalton Philips said the company delivered 'outstanding performance' with 'particularly strong volume momentum, aided by favourable summer weather and new business wins'. Looking into the current quarter, Mr Philips said that their focus remains on 'maintaining momentum'. 'While we are mindful of an uncertain economic backdrop and ongoing inflationary pressures, we now expect to deliver a full year adjusted operating profit of £118-121m, ahead of previous guidance,' he said. In April, Greencore agreed to buy rival Bakkavor valuing the company at $1.2bn. Bakkavor had already rejected at least two previous offers from Greencore. The company also said its proposed acquisition of Bakkavor continues to progress. 'We look forward to completing the value-creating acquisition of Bakkavor in early 2026, subject to regulatory approval, and will continue to update on progress in due course," Mr Philips said. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval, notably from the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK competition watchdog looks into Greencore Bakkavor merger
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into the proposed £1.2bn ($1.63bn) merger between Greencore and Bakkavor. In a statement released today (8 July), the watchdog said it will focus whether the merger will lead to 'substantial lessening of competition' in the food-to-go, ready meals, and prepared food markets where both companies operate. The CMA is currently seeking comments on the potential impact of this merger from interested parties. Stakeholders have a deadline of 22 July to submit their views before the CMA starts the phase one investigation. The initial phase of an investigation typically aims to determine if the merger could significantly reduce competition in the market. If the phase one investigation indicates a fair risk of reduced competition, a more detailed phase two investigation follows. The news comes just a day after Bakkavor shareholders supported the deal, with 99.98% voting in favour. Greencore's directors had already approved the transaction, which aims to create a combined private-label business with revenue of approximately £4bn. Greencore, headquartered in Dublin, secured agreement in principle from Bakkavor's board in April after two previous bids were rejected, with the cash and stock deal being formalised in May. One potential hurdle for Greencore in finalising the transaction is job losses. Greencore estimates that up to 5% of the combined workforce could be affected by office and factory consolidations, potentially impacting as many as 1,525 employees. However, CMA's primary concern in such mergers is their impact on competition, along with any implications for consumers, redundancies could be considered if they are linked to competition issues. Analysts suggest that a significant reduction in competition is unlikely due to limited overlap in the companies' portfolios. However, the ready meals segment could be contentious, as both companies compete with branded manufacturers in this area. Other overlapping segments include sandwiches and prepared salads, which are supplied to supermarkets under own-label food-to-go offerings. Bakkavor also produces bagged salads for major chains. Bakkavor would add pizza, breads, desserts, and chilled dips to Greencore's portfolio, complementing its existing range of products including sushi, chilled snacks, quiche, soups, sauces, pickles, and Yorkshire puddings. Consumers could benefit from the merger if it leads to lower prices, although it could also give the combined entity more leverage to increase prices. Citing a source, Just Food reported on 21 May that the CMA might approve the merger but could impose conditions. In a 15 May filing, Greencore indicated it might abandon the Bakkavor deal if the CMA imposes stringent conditions, citing rule 13.5 of the UK Panel on Takeovers and Mergers codes. 'The CMA is a body that's a law unto itself, albeit it has been encouraged by government to be more pro-growth and we may be seeing a slight or evolving position from the CMA in terms of how it looks at deals. Whether that means the likelihood of more deals coming through remains to be seen,' the source told the publication at the time. 'There's a remarkably limited overlap between Bakkavor and Greencore in terms of what they actually produce.' "UK competition watchdog looks into Greencore Bakkavor merger " was originally created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
Irish Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
UK watchdog starts scrutiny of Greencore's £1.2bn Bakkavor deal
The UK competition authority has started to scrutinise Greencore's planned £1.2 billion (€1.39 billion) purchase of London-based peer Bakkavor. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday that it is inviting interested parties to file comments with it by July 22nd as part of its so-called phase one inquiry into the transaction. 'CMA is considering whether it is or may be the case that this transaction, if carried into effect, will result in the creation of a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 and, if so, whether the creation of that situation may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services,' the agency said. Dublin-based Greencore, led by its Irish chief executive Dalton Philips, secured backing from Bakkavor's board in April for a deal to create a leading convenience food business in the UK with a combined revenue of £4 billion and about 30,500 employees. It would see existing Greencore investors own 56 per cent of the group, with Bakkavor investors holding the remainder. READ MORE Some 99.96 per cent of Greencore shareholders that participated in a vote on the matter at an extraordinary general meeting last week backed the accord. Bakkavor investors supported the deal by a majority of 86.1 per cent on Monday. [ Greencore signs up 69% of Bakkavor shareholders for recommended £1.2bn deal Opens in new window ] Greencore knows Bakkavor well. The latter had built up an 11 per cent stake in the Irish business before the 2008 financial crisis, stoking takeover speculation at Greencore – then also 29.9 per cent owned by boomtime Irish property developer Liam Carroll. At the time, speculation focused on whether Mr Carroll wanted Greencore's defunct sugar plants in Carlow and Mallow for land development purposes. Bakkavor, founded 40 years ago by Icelandic brothers Agust and Lydur Gudmundsson, sold its Greencore stake at a loss in October 2008 as the Gudmundssons saw their broader business empire come under pressure during the financial crisis. [ Subscriber Only Business Greencore boss Dalton Philips: 'I love food. I love cooking it, I love buying it, I love eating it. I'm a total foodie' Opens in new window ] Bakkavor almost went under during the worst of that period. The Gudmundssons lost control of the business for a period, before managing to regain it a decade ago with the help of a US hedge fund. The two convenience food groups share the same customers among major UK supermarkets – but have limited crossover in products. Bakkavor would add pizza, bread, desserts and dips to Greencore's range, spanning sandwiches to salads, sushi and ready-made meals.
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Supermarket sandwich megadeal probed by competition watchdog
The £1.2billion tie-up of supermarket sandwich makers Greencore and Bakkavor is being probed by Britain's anti-trust watchdog. FTSE 250-listed Greencore's acquisition of is rival, announced in early April, is set to create a UK food-to-go giant with a combined revenue of around £4billion. But unions have warned the deal could result in up to 1,500 job losses as well as factory closures. The Competition and Markets Authority on Tuesday launched an 'invitation to comment' ahead of a formal investigation into the deal. The regulator said it was concerned the deal could result in a 'substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the UK for goods or services'. Greencore is a prepared food specialist, which supplies all major supermarkets, including Marks & Spencer. The group, which has its headquarters in Dublin, with a British head office in Worksop and 14 factories, supplies nearly 750million food-to-go items each year and employs around 13,300 staff. London-based Bakkavor employs 17,200 staff across 41 locations in Britain, the US and China. It makes around 3,500 different freshly prepared food products, including meals, salads, desserts, dips, sauces, sandwiches, and pizza and bread products. Under the terms of the potential deal, Greencore shareholders would own around 56 per cent of the combined group and Bakkavor shareholders would own about 44 per cent. The CMA's invitation to comment will close on 22 July, at which point it will consider a formal investigation.
