Doncaster-based Sargents Bakeries is acquired by BBF creating a £200m turnover business

Sargents, which includes sweet pies, tarts and sundaes in its product range, has annual revenue of around £24m.

The combined business will have turnover approaching £200m and employ more than 1,700 people across six sites.

The businesss will continue to be led by Jonathan Lill as CEO, supported by the BBF board of directors. The site in Doncaster will continue to trade under the name of Sargents Bakeries Limited.

Jonathan Lill, CEO of BBF, commented: “This is another strong acquisition for BBF, our people and our customers. Sargents’ product range and customer base are very complementary and the acquisition will enable us to offer customers even greater flexibility and innovation.

“Sargents has had a very challenging time recently and we were keen to step in immediately to protect both continued supply to its valued customers and its loyal employees. Across both businesses, we remain committed to continuing to invest and deliver great quality, service and innovation to our customers.”

BBF was acquired in September 2015 by the private equity investor, Endless. The acquisition of Sargents is funded through existing BBF facilities.

The Endless LLP deal team was led by Richard Harrison, Lee Abbott and James Warburton. BBF and Endless were advised by Walker Morris LLP (Richard Naish, Claire Askew and Kayleigh Watson) and the KPMG Tax team, led by Steve Heath.