NEC in £26m merger
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NATIONAL Freight Consortium (NFC) and Union International have merged their subsidiaries Tempco International and the Union Cold Storage Company to form the second largest temperaturecontrolled food distribution and cold storage company in the United Kingdom.
Tempco Union, the new cornpany, will be owned 60 per cent by the NFC and 40 per cent by Union International.
Sir Peter Thompson, NEC chairman and chief executive, will be chairman of Tempco Union and Mr Edmund Vestey of Union International will be deputy chairman. The managing director is Mr Ron Sawbridge, who was previously chairman and managing director of Tempco International and the finance director is to be Mr Colin Pounds. The headquarters of the new company will be in Bedford.
Other board members are Mr J. D. Mather (NFC), Mr R. A. Parker (Union International) and one other NFC representative. All major decisions affecting the new company will be agreed jointly between the partners NEC and Union International.
NFC says the merger brings together one of the more recently established temperaturecontrolled distribution and public cold storage companies in the UK with one of the very first companies to be established in this field before the turn of the century.
Tempco International was formed in 1975. By 1984 it had grown to a company with a turnover of £16m, operating a fleet of 100 refrigerated vehicles and 11 cold stores, mostly in the southern half of the country.
It has a combined capacity of 18 million cubic feet of cold storage and employs 350 people. It has developed its temperaturecontrolled distribution business for major retailers and frozen food manufacturers.
Union Cold Storage was formed in 1897 and was the pioneer of the cold storage industry in the UK. It has brought to the merger 12 cold stores on freehold sites, mostly in the northern half of the country, with a combined capacity of 13 million cubic feet. It has particularly close connections with the meat industry, both at home and overseas.
The new company, Tempco Union, will provide an integrated temperature controlled food distribution and cold storage network from 23 sites strategically located throughout Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. Its major customers are Anchor Foods, Asda, Birds Eye Wall's, Buxted Poultry, Cadbury Schweppes, CWS, Lyons Maid, McCains, New Zealand Meat Producers Board, Pedigree Pet Foods, Ross Foods, J. Sainsbury, Tesco and Weddel.
The company intends to open two new storage and distribution centres in early 1985 to make 25 cold stores in all with a combined capacity of 35 million cubic feet. This represents over 20 per cent of the total public cold storage space in the UK.
The combined staff of Ternpco Union will be over 600 and all will be eligible to buy shares in National Freight Consortium which is owned by its employees who hold 82.7 per cent of the equity.
Tempco Union has a projected revenue of E25 million and projected trading profits of over E4m per annum with net assets of £26m.