Finsbury Food buys Just Desserts
FINSBURY Food Group, which supplies baked goods to leading national coffee shop chains, has completed its acquisition of Just Desserts, saving the group from administration.
Tom MacLennan and Geoff Rowley, partners at restructuring firm FRP Advisory, sold Johnstone’s Just Desserts, known for its caramel shortcake, to Finsbury, after the East Kilbride-based company went into administration on 25 March.
The purchase has secured 150 jobs at the firm, according to a statement from FRP.
MacLennan said: “This is a great result in safeguarding the business. We wish the new owners Finsbury Food Group every success with their expansion plans.”
When the acquisition was first announced, Finsbury boss John Duffy said: “Johnstone’s Just Desserts… is in line with our strategy to diversify into new channels. This illustrates the group’s continued reach into the foodservice out of home eating market and the broadening of our product offering and customer base.”
Meanwhile, analysts at Cenkos Securities said Just Desserts was “highly complementary to the existing Finsbury Group”.
However, shares in Finsbury were down by 1.17 per cent yesterday, closing at 84.50p.