Associated British Foods, the owner of Primark and major sugar, foods and ingredients businesses, said it is to buy dairy technology company National Milk Records for £48 million (€55.7 million) to boost its agri-food unit.
While it is best known for the value fashion retailer Primark, which makes up almost half of its £17 billion (€19.7 billion) of revenue, AB Foods is also one of the largest UK food producers and operates one of the country's biggest animal feed businesses.
AB Foods said on Tuesday that NMR's expertise in the dairy industry would help grow its agriculture business, adding data and technology platforms which help farmers become more profitable, initially in Britain.
'A High-Quality Business'
"NMR is a high-quality business which is extremely complementary and additive to our dairy strategy and offering to the dairy industry," said Jose Nobre, head of AB Foods' AB Agri unit.
NMR's board has recommended ABF's 215 pence per share cash offer and AB Foods said in its statement that it had already received backing for the deal from investors holding about 69% of shares, close to the 75% threshold needed to approve the deal.
The deal is expected to be completed during the third quarter.
In April of this year, the Primark-owner reported a 3% fall in first-half profit and kept its guidance for a flat outcome in the full year, staying cautious about the resilience of consumer spending.
For the full 2022-23 year, the group expects adjusted operating profit broadly in line with the £1.44 billion (€1.63 billion) made in 2021-22.
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