HS Fresh Food Group, the Australian salad supplier that went into administration last month, has been sold to local peer PMFresh for an undisclosed sum.
Vaughan Strawbridge, Joanne Dunn and Ben Campbell from the local arm of the global advisory firm FTI Consulting were appointed to the Tasmania company in June and have now found a buyer in the shape of national business PMFresh.
HS Fresh, which provides salads and prepared deli foods to major Australian supermarket groups including Woolworths and Coles, employed 500 to 1,000 employees when it went under, according to the company’s LinkedIn page.
In a statement sent to local media, the administrators said employees were advised of the sale in meetings that were held on 9 July, but stressed the final number of employees being offered future employment under the sale has yet to be communicated and will not be known until transition plans are finalised.
This is expected to happen at the end of this month.
Until then the business, which reportedly collapsed because of tough market conditions, will continue to operate under the control of the administrators.
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“The sale process resulted in a number of expressions of interest and non-binding indicative offers being received, but the PMFresh offer was the best offer received,” local media outlets quoted the administrators’ statement as saying.
HS Fresh has operations in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and New South Wales and is behind brands Houston’s Farm, Sunfresh, Gourmet Selections and HS Fresh Farms.
PMFresh also supports major Australian grocers with ready-to-eat salads and fresh convenience foods. It has more than 1,000 employees nationally and also serves the foodservice and QSR channels.
Just Food has asked PMFresh for a statement on the HS Fresh Food acquisition, outside of Australian office hours.
