Nisbets founder cooks up £450m windfall from sale to Bunzl

The founder of a catering equipment empire is lining up a sale to the FTSE 100 distribution group Bunzl that will propel his family into the ranks of Britain’s super-rich, Sky News learns.

The founder of a privately owned catering equipment empire is in talks about a sale to Bunzl, the FTSE 100 company, that would deliver a windfall for his family worth more than £450m.

Sky News has learnt that Andrew Nisbet, whose business has become a multinational distributor to the food-service sector, is in advanced talks with Bunzl about a deal that could be struck within weeks.

If completed, it would propel Mr Nisbet, who founded the company in 1983, and his family into the ranks of Britain’s wealthiest people.

City sources said that Bunzl had emerged as the likeliest buyer of Nisbets during negotiations with the family-owned company’s advisers at Goldman Sachs in recent weeks.

A deal could value the company at between £450m and £500m.

Bunzl, which has a market capitalisation of close to £11bn, has grown both organically and through scores of acquisitions in recent years.

During the last three years it has spent an average of £425m on buying smaller companies in its sector, and it is run by a management team held in high regard in the City.

It was unclear on Thursday whether any other bidders remained in the frame to buy Nisbets, which boasted sales in 2021 of £420m, showing a 34% increase on the previous year.

Nisbets has supplied more than 35,000 catering products to restaurants, hotels, bars, and the broader hospitality industry during its four decades in existence.

SOURCE: SKYNEWS