Karro Food Group sale confirmed after approval

The deal – for an undisclosed sum – was completed after approval was gained on April 24, Endless has today (May 3) revealed.

Endless partner Aidan Robson said: “We wish the management team, along with their new owners, CapVest, all the best for the future. It has been a remarkable four-year journey and Karro is a business that we are immensely proud of at Endless.​

“Over the last four years we have worked with a very talented management team, to transform what was a heavily loss making, non-core division of a European co-operative into one of the leading British pork producers. During this time we have invested over £45M in capital improvement projects, focused primarily on locally reared British pork and produced enough bacon for over 1bn bacon butties.”​

Leading British pork producer​

The pork processor now has ambitious plans for the future, it said, after the initial sale was revealed on March 27.

Karro executive chair Di Walker said: “Endless has been a great owner of Karro and I would like to thank them for all their support and input over the last four years. This has helped us transform and grow Karro into the highly successful business it is today, with a clear strategic role in the supply of British pork. ​

“Along with our new owners, CapVest, we have ambitious plans to grow the business further and we are very excited about the scale of the future opportunities. In the meantime, it’s very much business as usual for our management, employees and customers as we look with confidence to the next phase in our journey.”​

‘Ambitious plans to grow’​

Last month, an industry expert told FoodManufacture.co.uk that reports of an impending takeover​ “appeared to be right”​. Before the sale, the expert said: “Karro Food Group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is reportedly £30M–35M.​

“It’s unclear why CapVest should think this is such a great deal when none of the national or international trade players want to buy it. Karro is trading at optimum, having had fair winds on pork prices.”​

Karro Food Group supplies meat products to retail, foodservice and manufacturers across the UK. It processes about 45,000 pigs a week, and its pork is eaten by millions of consumers every year, it said.

The prospect of an imminent sale of Karro Food Group was first reported by Food Manufacture’s sister title The Grocer​.