Tereos Acquires Napier Brown Sugar

29 Apr 2015

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29 Apr 2015 --- Tereos is pleased to announce that it has agreed definitive terms to acquire the entire issued share capital of Napier Brown Sugar Limited from Real Good Food plc. The transaction is subject to approval by shareholders of Real Good Food and is expected to complete by the end of May 2015.

Founded 90 years ago Napier Brown is Europe’s largest independent sugar distributor and distributes around 300,000 tons of sugar per year. Napier Brown’s retail brand, Whitworths Sugar, is very popular among UK customers and its retail distribution business has experienced strong growth over the past few years and enjoys a market share of over 20%. Napier Brown is also a major partner for the food industry with a market share of over 15%. Napier Brown has 150 employees and operates from two sites. Its logistics platform in Stallinborough, Lincolnshire, is dedicated to the import and the distribution of industrial sugars and is located to the east of the ‘M62 corridor’, the largest food production area in the UK. Its commercial and retail packing site in Normanton, Yorkshire, produces a broad range of sugars for retail distribution.

The acquisition of Napier Brown is a key step in Tereos’ strategy of further commercial development of the group, the number one player in the French sugar market and the world’s fifth largest sugar company. The transaction will significantly reinforce Tereos’ positions in the UK, which is a strategic market for French producers. The transaction will allow Tereos to offer its UK and international clients a broader range of products and a premium logistics service in the UK.

Alexis Duval, President of the Executive Board of Tereos stated: “The acquisition of Napier Brown represents a great opportunity for the group to reinforce our product and services offering in the food and beverage-processing and retail industry. The integration of Napier Brown in Tereos, one of the largest European and global sugar producers, will enable the company to secure a diversified and reliable source of quality supply and hence will open up new growth perspectives. For Tereos, this acquisition is a new step in our ambition of European development in anticipation of the end of the EU Sugar Regime in 2017.”

Tereos is already a well-established player on the UK sugar market but is also active in the production and sale of alcohols, glucose syrups, starch and wheat protein.

For Real Good Food, which has been involved in the development of Napier Brown’s business since 2005, this transaction responds to its objective of finding a strategic partner which is active in the European sugar market and which is capable of providing Napier Brown with the necessary means to accelerate its growth and secure quality sourcing in order to strengthen its commercial offering in the long term.