Hilton to buy Wednesbury meat business
A Wednesbury meat products factory is to be bought by a major food packing group for an initial £100 that will eventually reach an estimated £3.3 million.
Hilton Food Group,which supplies meat and sea food, has announced a deal to buy manufacturer HFR Food Solutions which operates from a production site at Black Country New Road and produces vacuum-sealed and chilled beef.lamb and pork products.
Hilton chief executive Philip Heffer is also a director and shareholder of HFR Food Solutions, owning 30 pe cent of the business.
Graham and Robert Heffer, who are also HFR Food Solutions directors and who both each own 30 per cent of the firm, are also directors of Hilton Food Solutions, an indirect subsidiary of Hilton Food Group.
HFR Food Solutions manufactures for retail, wholesale and food service outlets across the UK and in the year to the end of September had turnover of £24 million.
The deal for HFR is scheduled to complete at the end of February and enables Hilton to enter the fast-growing vacuum-sealed and chilled market.
Hilton will provide a secured loan of £2.75m to HFR on completion to finance the company.
Hilton executive chairman Robert Watson said: "This acquisition represents an exciting opportunity for Hilton to broaden its offering in a fast-growing segment of the market and meet our customers' demands for Hilton to supply them with a range of innovative, high quality sous vide products."
Graham Heffer added: "We are pleased with Hilton's acquisition of HFR as it will enable the business to benefit from Hilton's expertise, improve its operations and continue to focus on giving our customers the right products at competitive prices."
Hilton had sales of £1.4 billion in 2017 and employs around 4,300 people across its sites.
HFR has operated the Wednesbury site in collaboration with another food manufacturer Tulip since 2014.
