This sale, together with the closure of its desserts factory in Evercreech last October, marks Greencore's exit from the UK cakes and desserts sector. Bright Blue Foods is one of the UK's largest ambient cake manufacturers. It is owned by private equity investor Endless.
Greencore did not disclose the price it received for the business. The business made own-label cakes for a number of retailers, including Marks & Spencer and Asda.
The announcement comes a day before Greencore is due to release its first-quarter trading for the 13-week period to 29 December 2017.
Business churn
In November, the company, run by CEO Patrick Coveney, said the cakes and desserts businesses was experiencing challenging trading conditions which were characterised by business churn and high levels of inflation.
In May 2017, the group announced the prospective phasing out of manufacturing at its desserts facility in Evercreech. An exceptional charge of £16.5m relating to this exit was incurred in the 2017 financial year.
Greencore completed the acquisition of the US company Peacock Foods 12 months ago, which saw full year revenues increase almost 57% to £2.3bn. This sees Greencore's business now more or less split evenly between the UK and US in terms of sales and profits.
Greencore anticipates delivering a year of “strong growth” in 2018. Shares in Greencore are trading at £2.04, 8% lower than one year ago.
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