USA's Middleby Corporation buys the Lincat Group

The Lincat Group has been bought by US-based global catering equipment company the http://www.kitchen-ventilation.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Middleby Corporation](http://www.middleby.com/).

The acquisition includes [Lincat](http://www.lincat.co.uk)[IMC](http://www.imco.co.uk/) (which supplies bar and catering equipment) and [Britannia Kitchen Ventilation.

It adds three UK manufacturing sites to Middleby's existing tally of factories in North America, Italy, Denmark and the Philippines.

"We view this as an extremely positive development which will ensure the long term profitable expansion of our business, both here in the UK and overseas" said Lincat managing director Steve Mitchell. "We look forward to the opportunity of expanding our geographic reach through Middleby's extensive worldwide sales network."

Lincat was established in Lincoln in 1971 and now employs 195 people. It produces more than 1,000 pieces of catering equipment each from its 100,000 sq ft factory and lists more than 450 products in its portfolio - they include fryers, griddles, grills, ovens, food display merchandisers, beverage equipment, hot cupboards and trolleys. Key customers include Punch Pub Company and Greene King.

Middleby, which was founded more than 100 years ago, owns a roster of brands such as Southbend, Pitco, Turbo Chef, Middleby Marshall, CTX, CookTec, Holman, Star, Blodgett, HounÁ¶, FriFri and Giga