A Canadian laundry giant is looking to extend its operations into the Midlands and southern England after taking over a historic North West laundry and linen group.
K-Bro Linen, which already owns Scottish laundry brand Fishers, has taken over Cumbrian firm Shortridge in a deal worth up to 拢26.1m.
Shortridge was founded in 1845 in Dumfries by Thomas Shortridge. It merged with Cumbria鈥檚 North West Laundry in the early 2000s and today serves more than 1,200 independent hospitality customers from its sites in Dumfries, Workington and Darlington.
Alberta-based K-Bro was founded in 1954 and has become Canada鈥檚 largest operator of laundry and linen processing sites. It runs ten processing sites and two distribution centres under the brands K-Bro Linen Systems and Buanderie HMR.
In 2017 K-Bro acquired Fishers, which operates five sites in Scotland and the North East of England and focuses on the hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors.
Announcing the deal, Linda McCurdy, president and CEO of K-Bro, said: 鈥淲hile our original plans to grow our presence in the 海角视频 were interrupted by the Covid pandemic, we have stayed on the alert for further growth opportunities in the 海角视频, and I am excited by the potential that this acquisition presents for us and for Shortridge's customers. We share the same values as Shortridge, so the cultural fit is strong and the business has found a good home as part of the K-Bro family.
"This is a great opportunity for us to diversify our customer base in the 海角视频 and to position our combined 海角视频 business for more growth as we look to extend K-Bro's geographic reach further south into the 海角视频."
Shortridge鈥檚 shareholders appointed FRP Corporate Finance as lead advisor on the sale of the business.
Matthew Flower, partner at FRP Corporate Finance, said: 鈥淭his deal represents a perfect fit for both parties. Not only does it allow the well-established and respected Shortridge name to live on and secure the future of its employees, but it also means that K-Bro can diversify its customer base, providing a platform for expansion further south into the 海角视频.
鈥淚t proves that there is sustained interest in high quality 海角视频 companies from international buyers as greater economic stability encourages more businesses to target growth opportunities through M&A.鈥
Burness Paull and Stikeman Elliott acted as legal advisors to K-Bro.
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