Westbridge Food Group bought by Thai firm for £60M

Food conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Foods manufactures animal feed, cooked meats and processed meat. The Thai business said the deal with Westbridge Food Group would increase export opportunities to the UK and continental Europe.

Charoen Pokphand Foods chairman of the executive committee Adirek Sripratak said: “The investment in Westbridge Food Group will allow [us] to expand [our] distribution network to retail, foodservice and food manufacturers in the UK and the EU countries, which have a high potential.

‘New customers’

“Most of Westbridge Food Group’s markets are new customers to the group, rather than Charoen Pokphand Foods’s existing clients. Westbridge Food Group’s products mainly involve chicken, shrimp, fish and processed foods, which are in line with [our own].

“In addition, [we] will have import quota licences for chicken products to the EU, since Westbridge Food Group has more than 100 subsidiaries which have import quotas. Its management team also has [extensive] experience in food business management.”

Charoen Pokphand Foods makes more than 2,500 products, and has operations in 14 countries. It also exports to more than 30 countries, in five continents.

Westbridge Food Group

Worcestershire-based Westbridge Food Group manufactures and supplies products to food companies globally, it said. It specialises in raw, coated, part and fully cooked proteins, desserts, vegetables and party food.

It owns operations in Merseyside, Bangkok and Qingdao, China. In its latest trading update, it reported an operating profit of £7.1M, up 2.1% on the previous year.

The acquisition came after financial advisory firm Grant Thornton said the number of overseas buyers involved in UK deals had almost doubled in the third quarter of 2016. The weak pound, following June’s Brexit vote, meant oversea investors could pay 15–20% less for assets, it said.