Bright Blue Foods, the UK own-label cake supplier, has a new private-equity owner after NBGI Private Equity sold a majority stake in the business to Endless.
The deal, announced for an undisclosed sum, will see NBGI remain an investor in the business.
Bright Blue was created in 2012 after Ireland's McCambridge Group sold its own-label cake assets to NBGI, which led a management buy-out of the division.
At the time of the buy-out, Bright Blue had four bakeries in the UK and one in Poland. It now has one plant in the UK, with the bakery in Poland remaining open. The company has over 700 permanent staff.
Sales are expected to stand at over GBP70m (US$107.8m) this year.
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Bright Blue supplies bakery products including mince pies, celebration cakes, swiss rolls and cake bars. Its customers include Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Marks and Spencer and Aldi. The company also manufactures under licence for Mars Inc and William Jackson Food Group's Aunt Bessie's unit.
Steve Crossley, Bright Blue's CEO, will stay with the business in the same role. Crossley joined Bright Blue in October last year after three years as group executive board director at Samworth Brothers.
He said: "We have a strong, well invested business with real competitive advantages. Our recent bakery rationalisation in the UK and expansion in Poland gives us an opportunity to provide our customers with a compelling proposition and we have high aspirations for the future."
Bright Blue will join an Endless portfolio that includes UK-based pork supplier Karro Food Group. Di Walker, Karro's executive chair, will take a seat on the Bright Blue board.
Mathew Deering, a partner at Endless, said: "We are delighted to have the chance to back Bright Blue and support Steve and the team’s ambitions to take a long established North West business forward. We are also delighted to welcome Di Walker to the Board to complement the existing team. Bright Blue has a high quality reputation for its product quality and range of capabilities and we are excited about the plans to enhance this further."
