Oghma Partners, the corporate finance house to the consumer industries, is today pleased to announce that it acted as the financial advisor to the shareholders of Blakemans, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of sausages for the foodservice industry.
Headquartered in Staffordshire, Blakemans is a family business that has been manufacturing specialist raw and cooked sausage and meat products for over 70 years. The business has a particularly strong foothold in the UK foodservice market and is recognised as the leading supplier of sausages to UK fish and chip shops; and also supplies products to leading manufacturers of prepared meals. The business operates from a dedicated well-invested facility in Staffordshire and employs a total workforce of approximately 290. The acquisition is complementary to Cranswick’s existing added-value gourmet business, adding capacity in raw and cooked sausage production whilst enabling efficient supply into the foodservice market. The business’s success has been driven over the years by its dedication to producing quality products and providing the highest level of customer service.
Founding family members, and current CEO and finance director of the business, Philip Blakeman and Susan Cope, commented “We are excited to have the opportunity to become part of the Cranswick business. The two businesses compliment each other in so many ways and we also look forward to working with the management at Cranswick to continue producing quality products into the foodservice sector”
Cranswick’s chief executive officer, Adam Couch, commented: “I am delighted to announce the acquisition of Blakemans, a well-invested, leading foodservice sausage manufacturer. Blakemans is highly complementary to our existing added-value Gourmet business. We look forward to welcoming the entire Blakemans team to Cranswick and to working with them to develop the business further.”
Commenting on Oghma Partners’ assistance with regards to the transaction, Philip Blakeman said: “Working with Oghma Partners proved to be the best decision my sister and I made. The support and advice the team gave us throughout the process was second to none. Oghma guided us from the very beginning right up to the acquisition of Blakemans by Cranswick. We wish Oghma continued success and a huge thank you from the Blakemans family.”
Mark Lynch, partner at Oghma Partners commented, ‘‘Working with Phil and Sue and all the team at Blakemans was a great pleasure for us; we are thrilled to have found an ideal Partner for the business in Cranswick who will be able to help build on the success of the business to date.’’
This transaction adds to a long list of deals that Oghma has completed in the last year, including advising; Two Chicks (UK) on its majority sale to Eurovo Group (Italy), Paulig (Finland) on its acquisition of Panesar Foods (UK), Ingå Group (UK/Sweden) on its acquisition of MSK Ingredients (UK), strategic advice to BGF (UK) on its £9.0m minority investment in Plant-Ex Ingredients (UK), and Glendale Foods (UK) on its sale to the Shallan Group (UK).
