Kepak Group has acquired the Red Meat business of 2 Sisters Food Group (trading as 2 Sisters Red Meat Limited) from Boparan Holdings for an undisclosed fee, as 2 Sisters aims to restructure its operations following a tumultuous year. Kepak Group is set to acquire the business and assets of 2 Sisters Red Meat including four UK-based production facilities and a storage facility in Truro, Cornwall.
Under the terms of the agreement, Kepak assumes control of the business with immediate effect.
For 2 Sisters, the sale comes as part of a restructuring operation following a tumultuous year which saw the company at the center of a food hygiene scandal. There were allegations that the company was altering use-by dates of poultry products.
Shortly after the allegations came to light, former 2 Sisters Food Group CEO Ranjit Singh Boparan stepped down from his role to become the President of 2 Sisters’ parent company Boparan Holdings and former Nestlé executive Ronald Kers succeeded him in May.
Singh says: “We have had approaches over the past four years for our Red Meat operations and we have been talking to several interested parties during this period. But as we always make clear, any sale has to be at the right time with the right buyer, and it had to be a deal that fitted with our long-term strategy.”
“This deal represents another major step in transforming 2 Sisters and building a better business.”
“Kepak Group is the ideal home for our Red Meat business and this deal is a perfect strategic fit for them,” he notes.
The four production sites included in the deal are the beef and lamb processing sites in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales and McIntosh Donald in Portlethen, Scotland, a retail packing factory at Victoria in Cornwall, and a beef processing site in Bodmin, Cornwall.
Kepak Group estimates that the sites can inclusively process approximately 250,000 cattle and over 1 million lambs annually, and the company believes that the acquisition will strengthen its operations in both the UK and Ireland.
John Horgan, Managing Director, Kepak Group says: “Kepak has a clear strategy to grow its meat and food businesses in partnership with key customers and in markets that are complementary to our existing businesses in Ireland and the UK.”
“The acquisition of this Red Meat business marks a very significant next step in delivering on our strategy. The addition of these facilities to Kepak Group significantly increases the value and scale of our business. We are delighted to welcome all our new colleagues that will transfer with the acquisition,” Horgan explains.
“We look forward to working with them to grow our combined Irish and UK businesses and to further develop relationships with existing and new customers. In doing so, we will collaborate closely with the livestock farmers who have been loyal suppliers to these UK sites for many years.”
Earlier this year, 2 Sisters appointed Ronald Kers as its new Chief Executive Officer, officially joining on June 1. Ronald is the former Global CEO of Muller, the €6 billion international food company. He first joined Muller as UK CEO in 2012, leading the turnaround and transformation of the business and was subsequently appointed Global CEO in 2015.
