THE parent company of Malton’s bacon factory has sold the business after spending four years turning it from a loss making venture into a firm boasting sales of more than £550 million.

Private equity group Endless has completed the sale of Malton-headquartered Karro Food Group to CapVest following approval of the deal from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in Ireland.

Karro, which has become the leading supplier of British pork to the retail, trade and foodservice industries, was acquired by Endless in January 2013 from Dutch food firm Vion.

Since that time Karro has reported four consecutive years of profit growth, employing more than 3,100 people across seven sites in the UK.

The takeover deal by private equity firm CapVest will see the Karro management team, led by executive chairwoman Di Walker, remain with the business.

Aidan Robson, partner at Endless, said: “Karro is another fantastic turnaround story for Endless.

“Over the last four years we have worked with a very talented management team, led by Di Walker, to transform what was a heavily loss making, non-core division of a European cooperative into one of the leading British pork producers.”

During its time in charge Endless invested more than £45 million in capital improvement projects, focused on locally reared British pork and produced enough bacon for more than one billion bacon butties.

Mr Robson added: “We wish Di and the management team, along with their new owners, CapVest, all the best for the future.

“It has been a remarkable four-year journey and Karro is a business that we are immensely proud of at Endless.”

Karro’s executive chairwoman Di Walker, said: “Endless has been a great owner of Karro and I would like to thank them for all their support and input over the last four years.

“This has helped us transform and grow Karro into the highly successful business it is today, with a clear strategic role in the supply of British pork.

“Along with our new owners, CapVest, we have ambitious plans to grow the business further and we are very excited about the scale of the future opportunities.

“In the meantime it’s very much business as usual for our management, employees and customers as we look with confidence to the next phase in our journey.””

CapVest, which was established in 1999, is a private equity firm focussed on identifying and managing investments in companies supplying essential goods and services.