Liquidators Agree Conditional Sale Of Part Of Libelle Group Business

Auckland, March 14, 2025 – Libelle Group Liquidators, Robert Campbell and David Webb, have agreed a conditional sale of the company’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches operation to Compass Group New Zealand Ltd (Compass).

Libelle Group had been contracted by Compass to deliver approximately 125,000 meals daily as part of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme. It was placed into Liquidation on March 11, 2025. The Liquidators entered an operational services agreement with Compass to ensure the ongoing supply of school lunches and will continue this while the final conditions under the sale contract 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,” said Liquidator David Webb. “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.”

Commenting on the acquisition, Paul Harvey, Managing Director of Compass Group New Zealand, said: "Our teams are united in our commitment to providing lunches every school day to tamariki in our communities. 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."

Employees have been notified of the conditional sale this afternoon and the Liquidators will be discussing ongoing arrangements with these employees today.

Separately, the Liquidators have concluded that it is no longer viable to continue trading Libelle’s Champion Tuckshops division. These business units will be closing, effective today (March 14, 2025). The affected employees were informed of this decision 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.”

The Liquidators are still working with relevant parties on the permanent transition of Libelle’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako business to Compass and will keep stakeholders informed of this progress.

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