Borders potato firm buys Jersey Royals for £15m

Produce Investments, the Berwickshire-based potato supplier, today struck a £15 million deal to buy the larger grower of Jersey Royal spuds.

The Aim-quoted firm, best known for its Greenvale brand, is paying £11m in cash and £4m in shares for The Jersey Royal Company, and has been given an option to buy its main packing site for £6.35 million within three years.

Produce Investments chairman Barrie Clapham said the acquisition, which includes Jersey Royal’s Kent Potato Company subsidiary, marks an “exciting period” for the firms and their workers.

He added: “It takes the company into a very significant sector of the potato market and we are both excited and confident about the future earnings potential.”

Produce Investments revealed in January that it was in talks to buy Jersey Royal, which produces about 25,000 tonnes of potatoes a year and employs more than 500 people when the season peaks each May.