Unibic finds potential buyer amid financial woes

By Joe Whitworth

- Last updated on GMT

Unibic finds potential buyer amid financial woes

Related tags Grocery store

Unibic Australia has found a potential buyer shortly before being placed into administration, it has been announced.

Production was halted at the beginning of this month after the biscuit maker encountered trouble due to rising raw material prices and a squeeze on its margins arising from a supermarket price war, reported the country’s media.

Unibic makes a range of biscuits and cakes, including supermarket house brands and is the country’s fourth-largest biscuit maker.

Unnamed buyer

Administrator Lawler Draper Dillon reported that a contract of sale had been signed by unnamed new owners and that the deal would be announced after an independent valuation.

Mike Smith, spokesman for Lawler Draper Dillon told BakeryandSnacks.com: “The buyer was found before the administration but the sale had not been executed and directors decided that they could not wait​.

The deal may be announced any day but it is subject to the completion of valuations of stock and other assets​.

The administrator has to be satisfied that the price is ok and has arranged for independent valuations​.”

Root cause unclear

Smith added it was a little early to apportion the reasons for the collapse.

Pressure on margins in the wholesale grocery market was definitely a factor​,” he said.

Smith confirmed staff employed at the Melbourne factory were on paid leave.

They will be paid at least until the first meeting of creditors on 13 March or when the sale is completed​,” he added.

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