Food and drink wholesaler Kitwave has agreed to acquire Creed Catering Supplies Limited for an initial £60.0m in cash, with up to a further £10.0m payable over two years dependent on certain performance targets.
Creed is an independent food wholesaler operating in the South of England, with a range of customers in the leisure, hospitality, education, and care sectors.
In its last financial year, Creed recorded revenues of £130.2m and an adjusted operating profit of £8.3m.
On joining Kitwave, Creed will operate in its Foodservice division, which includes the trading operations of David Miller Frozen Foods, Total Foodservice, M.J. Baker Foodservice, and Westcountry Food Holdings. This will increase Kitwave’s Foodservice division to 10 depots (16 including the on-trade business) with around 10,700 customers across education, healthcare, leisure, hospitality, business, and out-of-home sectors, generating annual revenues of close to £275m.
There will be no changes to the Creed depot, operational, sales, head office teams, management team and Board. Chris Creed will remain CEO, with Philip de Ternant continuing as Chairman, who will be responsible for the strategic overview and integration into the foodservice division. Miles Roberts will continue as Managing Director, running the day-to-day business with his current directors.
Kitwave noted that the acquisition had a compelling strategic rationale, including earnings enhancement, an increase in its financial scale, geographic expansion, buying, operational and financial synergies, and the creation of a fully integrated national delivery network.
Ben Maxted, Chief Executive Officer of Kitwave, commented: “Creed has an exceptional heritage and is one of the UK’s leading foodservice wholesalers, so we are delighted to have reached this agreement, which will extend our Foodservice division.
“Strategically, Creed will significantly expand our geographical presence, bridging our operations in the North and South and creating a fully integrated national delivery network. In line with our buy and build strategy, Creed is also expected to significantly enhance the Group’s earnings along with providing material buying, operational and financial synergies.
“We are looking forward to working with Creed’s dedicated and experienced team and excited to see our Foodservice division continue to go from strength to strength.”
