This is at least the second coolest UK deal agreed since the Brexit vote
Melrose’s $2.8bn deal for US air conditioning company Nortek is at risk of losing its status as the UK’s coolest post-Brexit vote deal.
NFT Distribution, a UK chilled logistics business that delivers yoghurts and sandwiches to supermarkets, has announced the acquisition of another temperature-controlled logistics business, NR Evans.
The deal values the business at more than £20m, with up to £13m of debt funding provided by Investec Growth and Acquisition Finance.
Read more: Cold fusion: Turnaround group Melrose snaps up US aircon company for £2.2bn
NFT is owned by Hong Kong-based private equity firm EmergeVest.
Following this deal, NFT has a £200m-plus turnover and a combined workforce of more than 3,000.
NFT chief executive David Frankish said: “We are extremely proud to welcome NR Evans into the NFT Group and believe that the combination will not only create a considerable increase in scale, reach, and infrastructure, but also – combined with the capability of our people, recently augmented by the recruitment of new board members with specialist skills – results in the emergence of NFT as a business with an increased international focus on grocery supply chains.”
Read more: Another boost for post-Brexit UK M&A as US broker agrees takeover deal
The deal may offer more hope that UK mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity could be given a boost after the Brexit vote.
On Monday, news emerged that Japan’ SoftBank has made a £24.3bn bid for UK-based Arm.
And this morning US broker BGC Partners announced a deal to acquire the UK’s Sunrise Brokers.
After the Arm deal was announced, City bankers and analysts told City PM they expect the Brexit vote, and subsequent weakening of sterling, to boost UK attractiveness to acquirers.
“There’s a spectrum of M&A that’s on the table at any one point in time,” Richard Windsor of Edison Investment Research told City PM “And the price of a transaction is a big cut-off point. If you move the price of that transaction 10 per cent to the left, then obviously more deals become viable.”