North Tyneside wholesaler Kitwave has continued its expansion with the purchase of a Humberside food wholesale and delivery service.
The acquisition of Hull鈥檚 Alpine Fine Foods Limited, which operates across the Humberside and Yorkshire regions, comes after a similar deal to buy Central Supplies, a chilled product wholesaler based in the Midlands.
Alpine has a turnover of around 拢13m and the acquisition allows Kitwave to offer a larger product range and an improved delivery service. It joins Miller Food Services as Kitwave鈥檚 second food services acquisition. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
Ben Maxted, Kitwave鈥檚 head of frozen and chilled operations, will join the board of Alpine Fine Foods alongside Gareth Wilson, managing director of Miller Food Service.
Mr Maxted said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e delighted to announce the acquisition of Alpine Fine Foods. The business is renowned for providing a quality delivered solution to its customers and this ethos is a key part of the Kitwave Group.
鈥淲e look forward to building further our foodservice offering to the benefit of both customers and suppliers alike.鈥
Alpine managing director Phil Davis said: 鈥淭he acquisition has come at an exciting time for Alpine, after an already successful year this is a positive move towards growing the business further.
鈥淭he senior management and staff at Alpine are really looking forward to working closely with the Gareth and his team which will further improve our already high customer service levels.鈥
North East retail news
Kitwave, which was founded by CEO Paul Young in 1988, has become one of the region鈥檚 fastest growing companies in recent years, has acquired a number of wholesalers around the country in recent years as part of an ambitious expansion programme.
In its most recent accounts, the group recorded turnover of 拢341m and a workforce of almost 950.
The latest deal was supported by new finance facilities made available by Barclays Bank and Yorkshire Bank. Kitwave was supported on the transaction by Muckle LLP and KPMG on the acquisition in providing legal and due diligence services.
