AF feed business buys Preston rival
AF feed business buys Preston rival
FARMER-owned animal feed business, AF, has acquired its Preston-based rival Fred Bamber Ltd for an undisclosed sum.
The purchase will add about £6m to AFs existing £60m feed turnover, said managing director, Frank Blake, helping to extend the client base in the north-west of England.
Bambers George Street mill will be closed – part of an ongoing rationalisation within the animal feed sector – though the Cardinal brand and Bamber name will prevail. "Recent food scares are leading to much more demanding standards than anything we have had in the past," said chairman Neil Bamber. "It would not be sensible to adopt these standards at Bambers mill when all AFs mills are already prepared for them."
The acquisition would offer AF significant economies of scale, essential in todays shrunken marketplace, added Mr Blake.