Ice cream-maker Richmond agrees to £182m takeover

One of the UK’s biggest ice cream makers looked set to join forces with a European counterpart after agreeing to a £182m (€265m) takeover today.

Richmond Foods, which employs 850 people and is best known for its Nestle-branded products, is set to be bought by funds managed by US firm Oaktree Capital – the same owner of German ice cream firm Roncadin.

The UK company last year considered buying Roncadin as part of its own European expansion, but the operator was bought by Oaktree in October before the fund opened discussions with Richmond over a takeover deal in January.

Richmond’s shareholders include leisure entrepreneur and Blackpool Tower owner Trevor Hemmings, who owns almost 13% of the company.