A family-owned catering company is changing hands for £339 million

One of Bristol’s best-known businesses has been sold for £339 million after regulators approved the deal.

Bunzl’s £339m acquisition of catering equipment business Nisbets has been completed following approval from Ireland’s competition regulator.

Bunzl announced plans to acquire an 80% stake in Nisbets, subject to approval in the UK and Ireland, earlier this year.

Frank van Zanten, CEO of Bunzl, said: “I am delighted that we have completed the acquisition of Nisbets, a high-quality company with an experienced and respected management team.

“Their digital expertise and market-leading own-brand product offering will further strengthen our position in the catering equipment sector. We welcome our new colleagues from Nisbets to the Bunzl family as we continue to focus on our coherent merger strategy, aiming to grow both organically and through the consolidation of our fragmented markets.

Andrew Nisbet, whose company became an international distributor in the food service sector, founded the company in 1983.

The deal is expected to make his family one of the wealthiest in the Southwest.

Bunzl, which has a market capitalization of nearly £11 billion, has seen growth both organically and through a series of acquisitions in recent years.

It has spent an average of £425m on buying smaller companies in its industry over the past three years, and is led by a management team that is highly respected in the city.