The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has approved the sale of the Karro Food Group from private equity firm Endless LLP to another London-bases company Capvest Partners LLP.

Karro is headquartered in Malton, Yorkshire, and its facility in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, processes around 1.2m pigs per year. The company employs over 3,000 staff across seven sites in the UK.

Reports initially emerged in March that a deal between the two companies for the pork processor was being finalised.

Details of the transaction were not disclosed. However, reports suggest that the deal could be worth around £180m.

The new deal will see the Karro management team, including executive chair Di Walker, remain with the business. The transaction was subject to competition commission approval which was received on 24 April.

Plans

In a statement confirming the completion of the sale, Walker said: “We have ambitious plans to grow the business further and we are very excited about the scale of the future opportunities.”

Karro was formed in early 2013 when it split from Vion Food Group and has experienced a significant turnaround in financial performance over the past three years. In 2015, Karro had profits of £26.6m and turnover stood at £458m.

Aidan Robson from Endless described Karro as “fantastic turnaround story” for the company.

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