AF Blakemore & Son Ltd has acquired the business of fellow Spar wholesaler Capper & Co Ltd, and will begin the process of merging the two organisations’ Spar wholesale and retail operations.
West Midlands-based AF Blakemore purchase of the South Wales business will take the turnover of the combined organisation to £1.1billion.
AF Blakemore’s 5,572 employees and the 2,418 employed by Capper & Co will forge a combined workforce of 7,990 people and create the largest SPAR wholesaler in the UK, serving 1,096 Spar stores.
Capper & Co will trade as a separate division of AF Blakemore & Son, with Capper chairman Bill Capper and managing director Robert Upton joining the main AF Blakemore board of directors.
AF Blakemore’s head office and central distribution centres are located in Walsall in the West Midlands.
The company’s current Spar-based business serves 664 stores, which covers an area that stretches from North Wales to East Anglia and North Lincolnshire to north of the River Thames.
Capper & Co’s head office and central distribution centre is located in Talbot Green, South Wales with another distribution centre in Hastings, East Sussex.
The firm’s Spar-based business serves 432 stores, and covers an area from South Wales through to Gloucester, Oxfordshire, Sussex, Kent to south of the River Thames.
AF Blakemore’s group managing director Peter Blakemore said: “This is a great opportunity to bring two long established, family-owned businesses together and allow us to move forward in the growing UK convenience store sector.
“AF Blakemore and Capper & Co are similar companies that already have a shared history and a common set of values.
“The two businesses currently operate in regions adjacent to each other and this will allow for many benefits to be realised, particularly in areas of trading and distribution…
“Both companies will bring examples of best practice and the aim is to identify the best of both businesses to create one great organisation.”
Capper added: “I believe that integration with AF Blakemore & Son is the right way forward for Capper & Co. It will strengthen Spar in the UK and bring many opportunities and benefits to the business.”
The deal was the result of work by Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets, Barclays Corporate and legal and financial advice by Pinsent Masons and Grant Thornton respectively.
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