R&R buys Fredericks

R&R Ice Cream, Europe’s largest own label ice cream manufacturer, has agreed to buy Fredericks Dairies for £49 million (€57.3m).  The deal, which would see R&R acquire all of the issued share capital of Fredericks Dairies, is conditional upon clearance from the Office of Fair Trading.  Ice cream maker Fredericks Dairies, which has a factory at Skelmersdale in Lancashire, UK, has the licence to manufacture ice lolly brands such as Cadbury, Del Monte, Vimto, Britvic and Barratt’s. It achieved sales of £45m in the year to 31 August 2012, and was the sole supplier of ice cream to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The vendors, Frank and Philip Frederick, are keeping their Freezeserve cold storage and distribution business.