News
Food and drink acquisitions: Good Food Wines and John Bull Wholesale
UK specialist ingredient business Good Food Wines has been acquired by Kiril Mischeff for an undisclosed sum.
Good Food Wines is a supplier of alcohol, vinegars and condiments to the UK food and beverage manufacturing industry, with a customer-based that includes a number of ‘blue-chip’ manufacturers.
The acquisition will enable Kiril Mischeff to ‘capitalise on significant revenue synergies’ thanks to the complementary product portfolio.
The current management team comprising Mike Yates and Stuart Medcalf will continue to lead the business and all current staff will remain at the firm following the acquisition. The business will continue to trade as Good Food Wines.
Food and drink M&A
Mark Lynch – partner at Oghma Partners, which advised on the deal – said: “It was a real joy to work with the Good Food Wines and Kiril Mischeff teams and to have reached a successful conclusion to the discussions.
“This is our third completed food & beverage transaction in 2023 and marks our twenty second deal in the food ingredients sub-sector in Europe which makes Oghma Partners the most active M&A advisor in this sub-sector of the food industry.’’
In other acquisition news, this past week saw Zubrance – the holding company of the Serious Sweet Confectionery Group – acquire the entire share capital of John Bull Wholesale Ltd and the wholesale/private label business of John Bull (Confectioners) Ltd, based in Bridlington.
The new company will trade under the name of The Real Candy Co. All employees remain employed and have been transferred to the new company.
Growing capacity
Acquiring the businesses has significantly grown the Serious Sweet Confectionery group’s manufacturing capacity and enrobing capabilities while supporting the development of a more sustainable manufacturing footprint.
What is enrobing?
Chocolate enrobing is a process that uses a “waterfall” of chocolate to provide a coating of chocolate on products such as pretzels, chips, peanuts, popcorn, cookies and peanut brittle.
Commenting on the deal, Serious Sweet Confectionery director Rob whitehead said: “Completing this acquisition changes the game for Serious Sweets, significantly enhancing the products and formats we can offer customers, and growing our capacity.
We have a strong investment programme to build on the great work done by James and Jo-Anne and we’re very excited about what the future holds. Our management team has strengthened significantly including our broader innovation and marketing skills – key to keeping customers happy and meeting their every need.”
Meanwhile, Vorenta Group has completed a management buyout led by the company’s senior management team in the face of concerns raised by the Competition and Markets Authority over the merger between the group and Eville & Jones.
