Bunzl in three bolt-on acquisitions

1st Jun 2011 07:20

Insulation specialist SIG is to sell its safety and work wear business to outsourcing firm Bunzl.SIG Safety and Workwear distributes personal protection equipment and work wear to a variety of market sectors throughout the UK. Revenue in the year ended 31 December 2010 was £22m and the gross assets of the business at completion were £8.The sale price has not been disclosed. Chris Davies, chief executive of SIG, said Bunzl would provide the necessary scale and focus to develop the work wear business. "This divestment, which follows the recent sale of our scaffolding business, is consistent with SIG's key strategic initiative to improve performance by actively managing the group's portfolio of businesses to focus on our core operations," Davies said. Bunzl, meanwhile, had two other acquisitions to announce at the same time as the work wear purchase. The company has acquired Spanish firm King Espana Complementos while in Australia it has snapped up the Hospitality Depot business.Operating from facilities in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, King Espana is a distributor of food service disposables, cleaning and hygiene supplies to the catering and cleaning sectors throughout Spain. Revenue in the year ended 31 December 2010 was €29m and the gross assets acquired are estimated to be €13m.Based in Sydney, Hospitality Depot is principally engaged in the distribution of catering equipment and supplies to hotels, restaurants and caterers as well as to aged care facilities and education establishments in New South Wales, Australia. Revenue for the year ending 30 June 2011 is forecast to be A$21m and the gross assets acquired are estimated to be A$6m."Each of these acquisitions will further strengthen our positions in their respective markets," said Michael Roney, chief executive of Bunzl. --jh