Inter Link Foods chairman Jeremy Hamer has insisted the business will have to be refinanced even if the UK bakery group is not taken over.
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The company, which has issued two profit warnings this year, has debts that are thought to be in the region of GBP65m (US$129m).
Inter Link, under recently appointed chief executive Ian Croxford, is undertaking a review of the business amid growing interest in the company.
Trade and private equity groups have declared an interest in all or part of Inter Link but only one potential suitor, Irish food group McCambridge, has made moves to start due diligence on the company.
He confirmed that McCambridge had signed a confidentiality agreement as a precursor to due diligence, a move that ended a deadlock in talks between the two sides.
However, Hamer said Inter Link’s debts had to come down to ensure the future health of the business, even if the company is not acquired.
“We are going to have to restructure our balance sheet; our borrowings are too high,” he told just-food last night (24 May). “We’re undergoing a strategic review and in that context we’re looking at things like a rights issue and other forms of refinancing.”
Hamer added that the company would be “happy to continue the turnaround” of the business as an independent entity.
Officials at McCambridge declined to comment.
