Acquisitive companies rightly arouse suspicion. Frequent dealmaking often ends in tears and with shareholders picking up the tab. Bunzl is one of the few exceptions.
The FTSE 100 constituent supplies other companies with everyday consumable items, including loo rolls, detergent, food packaging, hard hats and rubber gloves. There’s nothing particularly fancy about these products, but they are needed and it is possible, with a decent competitive advantage, to turn a tidy profit from buying or making this stuff, storing it and then selling it on.
Scale is key. Bunzl has evolved into a £10 billion behemoth by buying up lots of market-leading family businesses all over the world and integrating them into its network. With each acquisition, the company expands its product portfolio, gains greater
