Forbes handles major food company sale

Blackburn-based Forbes Solicitors represented European food giant Kepak Group in its purchase of 2 Sisters Red Meat Limited.

Pauline Rigby, Forbes Solicitors

Kepak, which is based in County Meath, Ireland, has an estimated turnover around £800m and bought the business and assets for an undisclosed sum from Birmingham-based Boparan Holdings Ltd.

2 Sisters Red Meat operates from production sites in Scotland, Glamorgan and two in Cornwall. Through 13,000 UK farmers, the company processes and markets around 250,000 cattle and more than one million lambs each year.

Industry insiders note the deal strengthens Kepak's UK/EU relations ahead of Brexit.

Ranjit Singh, president of Boparan Holdings, said: “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.”

“Kepak Group is the ideal home for our red meat business, and this deal is a perfect strategic fit for them."

John Horgan, managing director of the Kepak Group, added: “The acquisition of this red meat business, with its very solid UK retail, foodservice and manufacturing relationships, 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 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.”

Forbes advised Kepak on the share purchase and the property acquisition aspects of the deal. Pauline Rigby, partner and head of corporate at Forbes, said: "Supply chain consolidation is now more strategically important than ever and this is an example of the strategy behind a number of our clients especially within the manufacturing industry."