Professional advisers from West lawyers Foot Anstey and accountants Bishop Fleming have helped merge feed specialists Massey Bros (Feeds) and Harpers Home Mix to create a business manufacturing and distributing more than 250,000 tonnes of animal feed a year.
The new business will continue to manufacture in three sites to distribute the full range of feeds to livestock businesses across the South West, Wales, the Midlands and the North West.
Foot Anstey, which has offices five offices in the South West, including Bristol, and Bishop Fleming, with bases in Bristol and Bath among its 11 offices, advised North Devon-based Harper Homes Mix, which manufactures and delivers high-performance feeds and mixes for cows, cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, poultry and game.
Massey Bros, a family business with more than 100 years’ experience, has manufacturing sites in Preston, Lancashire, and Holmes Chapel, Cheshire
Bishop Fleming corporate finance partner Robert Davey said: “From the outset, it was very apparent to us that both companies shared common ground in a number of areas and the combined businesses will certainly benefit from each other’s best practices. We knew that key requirements for both parties were continued high quality service levels to customers and future security for staff. Both have been achieved through this merger.”
Helen Wallwork, corporate partner at Foot Anstey, added: “Bringing together two established industry names will undoubtedly give Harpers Home Mix and Massey Feeds competitive edge and greater market share. The deal is excellent news for the agriculture sector and North Devon economy.”
“We are excited about the future for ourselves and our customers”, says Richard Massey, Chairman of North West based Massey Bros (Feeds) Ltd. “This is an exceptional opportunity to bring together two successful family run businesses with very similar ideals, to utilise each others’ strengths and ensure the increased resources of the combined business continue to deliver outstanding quality and value to our customers”.
Both businesses will retain their trading names and although there will be integration of functions such as finance, research and product development, the sales staff and support staff across both businesses will remain.
