Equistone buys Group of Butchers from Nordian

Greg Gille
13 December 2016

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Equistone Partners Europe has bought a majority stake in Group of Butchers (GOB), a Dutch meat products business, from Nordian Capital.

Management will take a stake in the buyout. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

According to a report published earlier this year by unquote" sister publication Mergermarket, citing local media sources, a previous sale process already involving Equistone fell through in Q1 due to pricing expectation issues.

Nordian has been invested in GOB since 2012, notably helping the company expand by acquiring five businesses over the past three years. Equistone stated it would be keen to keep growing GOB acquisitively, viewing it as a good platform to consolidate the sector.

Equistone currently invests from Equistone Partners Europe Fund V, which closed on €2bn in 2015. The vehicle targets European buyouts valued in the €50-300m region.

The deal adds to the GP's busy year so far; according to unquote" data, Equistone inked 12 deals this year. Recent transactions include an investment in digital printing company Apogee Corporation, valuing the business at £185m.

Company
GOB was founded in 1997 as Dutch Grill Specialties and focuses on the production and distribution of meat products. Employing 350 staff across six production facilities in the Netherlands and Belgium, the company targets retailers such as large supermarkets as well as the out-of-home market.

GOB is headquartered in Tilburg and generates turnover of €125m.

People
Equistone – Marc Arens, Maximilian Göppert (investors).

Advisers
Equity – PwC (commercial due diligence); Deloitte (financial due diligence); KPMG (tax); Huz (operational due diligence); Alantra (debt advisory); Allen & Overy (legal).