Compass to acquire Nordic foodservice firm for £424m

Foodservice firm Compass Group has signed an agreement with Fazer Group to acquire Fazer Food Services for €475m (£424m).

Nordic food catering business Fazer Food Services has operations in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark across sectors including business and industry, education, healthcare, seniors and defence.

The firm operates more than 1,000 restaurants, serving almost 500,000 meals daily, employs approximately 7,000 employees and generates a turnover of about €600m (£536m). It also operates a production kitchen in Estonia.

Dominic Blakemore, chief executive of Compass Group, said: "I am excited that, together with our existing colleagues in the region, we will be able to further enhance our customer proposition in the Nordic market."

Christoph Vitzthum (pictured), president and chief executive of Fazer Group, added: "We believe Compass will provide a great home for Fazer Food Services… Whilst we are sad to see many of our colleagues leave Fazer Group to join Compass, we believe this acquisition will allow Fazer Food Services to achieve its full potential."

Compass Group saw revenues of £23.24b in the year to 30 September 2018, operates in around 45 countries, employs 600,000 people and serves more than 5.5 billion meals a year.

Compass rebrand brings high end B&I and events under one banner with RA Group >>

Compass attributes drop in UK margins to ‘challenging environment' >>