THE Irish Distillers subsidiary, BWG, now controls over 90 per cent of the shares in Appleby Westward, the Spar distributor in the south-west of England, and has declared the £9.5 million offer unconditional.
Before the bid was announced, BWG had secured acceptances from Appleby directors and their families in respect of 76.4 per cent of the shares. Since then, BWG has bought a further 14.4 per cent of Appleby shares in the market and has agreed to acquire a further 4.3 per cent. This will bring BWG's stake in Appleby to 95.1 per cent.
The acquisition of Appleby is BWG's first expansion outside the island of Ireland. BWG, with a turnover of over £400 million, already holds the Spar franchise in the Republic and Mace franchise in Northern Ireland and also has extensive cash and carry operations.
Appleby Westward is the Spar distributor in the south-west of England, supplying 260 stores in major population centres such as Bournemouth, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Southampton. The group had sales in the year to February 1996 of £81.3 million sterling.
