Meat processors' pounds 150m merger

TWO OF BRITAIN'S biggest privately-owned meat processors, Dalehead Foods and Roach Foods, are to merge in a pounds 150m deal. The combined group, to be known as Flagship Foods, will have sales of pounds 270m and 2,400 employees and will be the country's second biggest supplier of pork, bacon and cooked meats to supermarkets after Unigate.

It is expected to float in three to five years, netting a fortune for its two majority shareholders, Tony Ambler of Dalehead and Graham Roach.