The owners of UK-based egg producer Noble Foods are evaluating plans to sell the company, which is valued at approximately £400m.
Farmers Peter Dean and Michael Kent, the joint owners of the business, are believed to have started discussions over the potential sale with private equity investors and overseas rivals.
Noble Foods collects about 72 million eggs from 350 farms and delivers most of them to supermarkets. The company owns the Happy Eggs and Big & Fresh brands. In 2011, the company posted sales of about £600m and pre-tax profits of £11.9m.
Noble Foods, founded in 1938, was formerly known as Goodmix. The name was changed to Noble Foods with the merger of Deans Foods and its rival Stonegate Farmers in 2006.
Noble Foods is involved in the production, packing, and supply of eggs and egg products to supermarkets, food manufacturers, foodservice customers, and retailers in the UK.It offers scrambled, boiled, and liquid eggs; poultry and pig feed, including diets for pullets, laying hens, broiler chickens, and turkeys; and desserts.
