Libelle Group’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches operation is set to be sold to Compass Group New Zealand Ltd under a conditional agreement.

The Liquidators of Libelle Group, Robert Campbell and David Webb, have agreed to a conditional sale of the company’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches programme to Compass Group New Zealand.

Libelle had been contracted by Compass to deliver around 125,000 meals daily under the government-funded initiative before the company was placed into liquidation on March 11.

To maintain meal supply, the Liquidators entered an operational services agreement with Compass.

This will remain in place until the final conditions of the sale are completed.

“The Liquidators are pleased to have been able to reach an agreement with Compass that will see the continuity of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches programme,” Webb said.

“We appreciate the combined efforts of the Compass and Libelle teams in continuing to provide school lunches with minimal disruption while we negotiated a solution for the business,” he said.

Paul Harvey, Managing Director of Compass Group New Zealand, welcomed the acquisition.

“Our teams are united in our commitment to providing lunches every school day to tamariki in our communities,” Harvey said.

“Since the unexpected announcement on Tuesday, we have ensured continuity of operations, with over 500,000 meals delivered this week and 97.3% delivered on time.

This demonstrates how resilient our people are. We are now looking forward, ensuring everyone is supported through this transition,” he said.

Employees were notified of the conditional sale this afternoon, and the Liquidators are discussing ongoing arrangements with them today.

Meanwhile, the Liquidators have determined that Libelle’s Champion Tuckshops division is no longer viable.

As a result, these business units will close, effective immediately.

The affected employees were informed yesterday.

“We appreciate this was very difficult news for the Champion Tuckshops’ and other non-school lunch business’ employees to hear,” Webb said.

“We also know the decision to close this part of the Libelle business will impact the schools who rely on the service.

However, we have been heartened by the offer from two businesses to continue providing food supplies to those schools.

Affected schools have been given the details of those suppliers,” he said.

The Liquidators continue to work with relevant parties on the permanent transition of Libelle’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako business to Compass and will keep stakeholders updated.