FIVE Star Fish, the big Grimsby based seafood company and a major supplier to the food service industry, has been sold in a multi million pound deal.
The buyer is Ranjit Boporan, who owns the two sisters food group and who two months ago bought the iconic Harry Ramsden fish restaurant chain. The figure is undisclosed but it is expected to be around the £35-million which british Seafood paid for the business three years ago.
Until today Five Star was part of the British Seafood Group which went into administration in February.
The Joint Administrators of Five Star Fish Limited, which includes Deloitte, said in a statement this afternoon that they were are pleased to announce the completion of the sale of FSF’s business and assets to the Boparan Group.
The sale includes the transfer of Five Star’s manufacturing facilities at Great Grimsby Business Park, Grimsby. Under the sale agreement, the employment of the entire workforce will transfer to the purchaser, safeguarding the jobs of 332 employees.
Matt Smith, Joint Administrator and partner in the reorganisation services practice at Deloitte, commented: “After a short period of trading during Administration, we are delighted to have successfully completed the sale of the Five Star business, which will secure the employment of the workforce at Grimsby. Five Star Fish is a strong, profitable business and the sale is sure to be welcomed by the stakeholders both locally and globally, who are eager to see the business survive.”
Until recent Ranjit Boporan’s was mainly involved with the poultry processing industry. But he seems to have developed a taste for seafood. Last year he brought four Fishworks restaurants and in January he swooped for the 36-strong chain of Harry Ramsden restaurants. Now he has the fish processing business which no doubt will be supply his restaurant empire with fish from Five Star at some point in the future. It is understood there were several bidders for Five Star including one German company.
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