The acquisition of the international yeast and bakers’ ingredients business from Burns Philip was completed after the year end. The bakers’
yeast business is market leader in North America, Latin America and Asia and is number 3 in Europe and will trade under the name AB Mauri. The market for bakers’ yeast is growing at an overall 3-4% per annum, 1–2%
in developed countries but much faster in developing countries such as China, where the growth rate is over 10%. It operates from 42 production sites in 24 countries. The main products of the bakery ingredients business are bread improvers, conditioners, mixes and fats and oils. Combined with Cereform (the group’s existing bakery ingredients business), the new business will have coverage of all significant markets, unrivalled market access in developing markets, low cost distribution through sharing of overheads with yeast and leading technology for western style baking.

Discussion points
1 Why is there a benefit in sharing overheads?
2 What types of overhead might be found in this business?