Wed, 19 Nov 2025 | DIVISION SALE
Greencore has agreed to sell its Bristol-based chilled soups and sauces business to The Compleat Food Group. The sale of the soups and sauces business forms part of the regulatory process for Greencore’s planned takeover of international food manufacturer Bakkavor.
The sale is expected to be completed in early 2026, subject to final approval from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The acquisition of the Bristol soups and sauces factory will help Nottingham-based Compleat Food Group to further expand its portfolio of chilled food brands.
The group owns a number of well-known UK brands, including Pork Farms, Wrights, The Real Yorkshire Pudding Co., Wall’s Pastry, Vadasz, Squeaky Bean, Palace Culture, and Harvey & Brockless. Compleat, which was formed in 2021 and is backed by European private equity firm PAI Partners, has annual turnover of around £1.3 billion, employing more than 6,000 staff across 17 sites.
In the year to September 26 2025, the Bristol factory delivered annual revenues of approximately £47 million, equating to around 1 per cent of the revenues of the combined Greencore and Bakkavor group, which are set to stand at £4 billion.
Announcing the divestment, Greencore said that the disposal would enable it to complete its £1.2 billion acquisition of Bakkavor, which was agreed in April 2025 but has since been held up by a CMA investigation over competition concerns.
The CMA claimed that Greencore’s acquisition of Bakkavor, which supplies food products to supermarkets including Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Asda, could result in a “substantial lessening of competition” in the supermarket own-label chilled sauces segment.
Dublin-headquartered Greencore operates 16 UK factories, which produce ready meals and food-to-go products. In its latest accounts, for the year to September 26 2025, the group reported revenues of £1.9 billion (up 7.7 per cent) and pre-tax profits of £79.5 million (up 29.3 per cent).
Find out more about the UK food and beverage sector's lively M&A market:
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