Ultimate Products to take over Salter and Heston Blumenthal partnership
Britain’s oldest houseware brand Salter is set to be snapped up by London-listed Ultimate Products as consumers fell back in love with home cooking over lockdown.
The deal is expected to be completed by 19 July and will cost Ultimate Products (UP) some £32m in cash.
UP, which turned over £115.7m last year, will take over the Salter brand and its partnership with British chef Heston Blumenthal.
Shares were up 0.9 per cent in UP’s afternoon trading, taking its price per share to 204p.
It comes as the brand, which has the license for fellow homeware heavyweight Russell Hobbs’ cooking products, saw online sales soar amid lockdown restrictions across the UK and Europe.
Consumers being barred from dining in pubs and restaurants fuelled the hefty increase in online demand.
UP said it is on track to see 20 per cent of its total revenue brought in from the digital sphere, up from 14.5 per cent in 2020.
The FTSE-listed firm partners with the UK’s Big Five supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Lidl and Aldi – alongside Argos, B&M, Dunelm and Homebase which will bolster brand presence for Salter, which has operated in the UK since 1760.