Family-run Heron Foods taken over by B&M in £152m deal
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Heron Foods opened their first shop in Hull in 1979
East Yorkshire-based Heron Foods has been bought by a discount retailer in a deal worth up to £152m.
The family-run food retailer, which employs around 3,800 people, has been taken over by B&M.
B&M said it would use Heron's chain of shops to develop a "discount convenience grocery brand".
Heron opened its first store in east Hull in 1979 and now operates more than 250 shops, predominately across the north of England.
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B&M chief executive Simon Arora said the company was planning to expand and develop the Heron business, initially through the opening of between 10 and 20 new stores per year.
"The addition of a complementary, proven discount convenience grocery brand to our own structural growth story gives the combined business an even longer, exciting growth runway," she added.
Heron made a pre-tax profit of £8.6m last year.
Last week, shares in B&M rose following reports that supermarket giant Asda was considering a £4.4bn takeover bid.