OFT clears sale of J&H Bunn to US firm Koch
The sale of one of Norfolk’s largest agricultural supplies businesses has taken a step forward after being cleared by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
In January, the owners of Great Yarmouth-based fertiliser producer J&H Bunn entered “exclusive negotiation” with Koch Fertilizer over the sale of the company, one of East Anglia’s largest with a turnover in excess of �140m.
Founded in 1816, the company has an 18pc share in the UK fertiliser market and employs about 150.
The clearance by the OFT lifts one of the final hurdles for the sale to Koch Fertilizer, a subsidiary of US giant Koch Industries, one of the world’s largest private companies.
Koch has pledged to retain all of Bunn’s 150-strong national workforce and expand the business, and it is thought the 50 staff at Yarmouth could eventually grow to at least 75.
You may also want to watch:
The value of the proposed sale has not been made public but is expected to be an eight-figure sum.
In addition to the main J&H Bunn operation, the acquisition will see Koch take over seven regional subsidiaries and brands in East Anglia, Humberside, Teesside and Scotland. They include Yarmouth haulage contractors Spandler Brothers.
Most Read
- 1 Londoners fined for travelling to stay at second home in Norfolk
- 2 'One of a kind' home with golf simulator and gym is for sale for £795,000
- 3 Drivers face non-essential travel fines after spate of snow crashes
- 4 Drug-dealers caught in undercover police sting
- 5 'Too many holiday homes' - Residents object to conversion bid
- 6 Norfolk wakes up to snow with more expected to fall
- 7 Are you in our Norfolk school photos from the 1970s?
- 8 Covid case rates continue to fall across Norfolk and Waveney
- 9 £250,000 of cannabis found in two cars on A11
- 10 Knifeman threatened to cut victim's throat if he 'grassed'
Bunn supplies more than 10 million tonnes of fertiliser annually. In its latest accounts for the year to March 31, 2010, the company reported turnover of �141.6m, down from �175.9m the previous year, reflecting drops in world fertiliser prices, which have since recovered.
Profit before tax dipped from �11.8m to �7.7m over the period. No one from the company was available to comment.