Acms buys roper in expansion bid

by Angela Jameson

Contract caterer ACMS is to buy Roper Catering Events, a small event caterer based in Cambridgeshire, from the Kay's Food Group, for an undisclosed figure.

The deal, which has yet to be signed, is believed to be for a sum in excess of £33,000 plus stock. ACMS, which is also looking for other acquisitions, expects to expand Roper's events business substantially.

Roper, which has recently catered for events such as the opening of the UK's first velodrome in Manchester and the launch of the National Lottery, has guaranteed business of £750,000 in turnover for this financial year. It expects net profits of 10%-12%.

Roper managing director Jacky Isaac, who is staying with the business in the same role, told Caterer: "It's a huge step forward. We didn't really fit in with Kay's main business interests, but now we will be able to concentrate on growing every side of the business."

Robert Lynch, managing director of ACMS, said he anticipated the outside catering and events market would see substantial growth as the economy continued to recover.

"The existing quality and service in this market isn't that good," he said. "But we have a name for quality, as does Roper Catering, and we will be looking to build on this."

Slough-based ACMS has a total of 62 contracts in the Thames Valley area, ranging in turnover value from £30,000 to £1m per site. The company's total annual turnover is about £7.5m.

ACMS's own outside events subsidiary, called RSVP, will be merged with Roper Catering Events within the first few months of the acquisition.

Mr Lynch said ACMS would be looking to acquire further contract catering businesses over the course of the next few months.

Christopher Ball, chairman of Kay's Food Group stressed that the sale of Roper Catering Events did not mean that Kay's was pulling out of contract catering altogether.

He said the group was still planning to expand its contract catering division, Midnight Catering.

• Aramark has won the contract to cater for both athletes and spectators at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. The victory marks the eighth time the company has catered for the summer games since 1968.