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PRESS speculation over the future of the Findus group increased further at the weekend with a report that it is considering selling Young’s Seafood and its sister business The Seafood Company.
The Daily Mail’s award winning financial website thisismoney.co.uk says that Findus’s owners, the private equity firm Lion Capital has appointed the firm Rothschild to evaluate the two businesses as part of a wide ranging strategy review.
This is the second recent report about Findus. Three weeks ago the Financial Times reported that Lion Capital, which acquired Findus for £1.1-billion three years ago, is considering breaking up the group by selling off the Findus brands in Scandinavia and France.
Both Findus and Young’s have so far declined to comment on the reports.
Thisismoney.co.uk said that Lion did sell Young’s and The Seafood Company it could expect to recoup around £450 million for the two operations. Young’s is based in Grimsby where it employs over 1,500 people and is the leading seafood brands in the UK. It also forms a major part of the economy of the town.
The Seafood Company, which specialises in providing own-label fish for the major retailers employs 2,000 people at six sites in the UK, many of them in Scotland. It has a large modern factory at Livingstone, near Edinburgh which produces for Waitrose, and it also owns Pinney’s of Scotland, suppliers of smoked salmon to the Queen, and Macrae of Scotland
At the beginning of the year, Young's Seafood, The Seafood Company and Findus UK were brought together to create Young's Seafood Limited, the UK’s largest supplier of fish and seafood to retailers and consumers. With a turnover of around £600 million, Young's Seafood Limited's meals are enjoyed by millions of consumers every day. Young's Seafood Limited became part of the European parent, Findus Group.
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