Bunzl expands into Austria and makes further acquisitions in the US and Australia

Bunzl plc, the international distribution and outsourcing Group, today announces that it has agreed to acquire a business in Austria and has also completed a further acquisition in the US and two more in Australia.

The Company has agreed to purchase Meier Verpackungen GmbH in Austria. Based in Hohenems in the west of the country and with a warehouse in Albersdorf, near Graz, the business is principally engaged in the distribution of customer specific packaging products to food processors throughout Austria. Revenue in the year ended 30 April 2015 was €39.0m. Subject to clearance of the transaction by the Austrian competition authority, completion of the acquisition is expected to take place in September.

Bunzl has also acquired Steiner Industries Inc, a personal protection equipment distribution business based in Chicago which is principally engaged in the sale of safety gloves and workwear to distributors in the US who supply the welding and industrial sectors. The majority of products sold are own label. Revenue in the year ended 30 November 2014 was US$17.9 million.

Finally in Australia the Company has purchased the business and assets of Cater Plus Pty Limited, trading as Bidvest Hospitality Supplies, based in Adelaide and of Delta Hospitality Pty Limited, based in Brisbane. Both businesses are engaged in the supply of catering consumables and equipment to a variety of end user customers including restaurants, bars, contract caterers, hotels and hospitals. In the year ended 30 June 2015 the revenue of Bidvest Hospitality Supplies and of Delta Hospitality Supplies was A$9.8 million and A$10.8 million respectively.

Commenting on the acquisitions, Michael Roney, Chief Executive of Bunzl, said:

“The purchase of Meier represents our second entry into a new country this year, following on from the acquisition of Istanbul Ticaret in Turkey at the end of May. The business will complement our existing operations in Switzerland and should provide a good platform from which to develop further in Austria.

Steiner is our third acquisition in the safety sector in the US since the end of last year having earlier acquired Tillman and Cordova. Together these businesses enhance our growing portfolio of own brand safety products for distributors serving a variety of different sectors.

The purchase of Bidvest Hospitality Supplies and Delta Hospitality Supplies has created additional scale and capability in our Australian catering consumables and equipment operations as we continue to build our national footprint in this sector.

We are pleased to welcome each of the businesses and their employees to the Group."

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