Happy Egg Hatches Plan to List on London Stock Exchange

05 Sep 2016 --- Britain’s biggest egg supplier is planning a £400m (£532m) flotation on the London Stock Exchange.

Noble Foods, which owns the Happy Egg company as well as Gu desserts, plans to make the move within the next two years, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

Noble Foods chief executive Dale Burnett said: “There is huge potential to develop the supply chain with a float. We will look to come to market within two years."

Noble Foods is Britain's biggest egg supplier, processing around 58.5m eggs each week. The grocery egg market is worth over £800m ($1.65bn) in Britain.

In 2010, Noble Foods purchased Gu desserts and Didier's Patisserie, a pastry supplier.

Last week, Noble Foods appointed the City veteran John Gildersleeve, the current chairman of British Land as its new chairman.

Gildersleeve replaced Peter Dean, part of the Dean family which founded the company. 

Peter Dean is one of the owners of Noble Foods, along with Michael Kent.

In 1920, William Dean started the business collecting eggs from smallholders and selling them door to door out of straw-lined wicker baskets. Dean Foods began egg packing more than 85 years ago.