Egeria to exit GoodLife Foods in SBO to IK Partners

Ero Partsakoulaki
30 May 2023

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Amsterdam-headquartered private equity firm Egeria Capital Management is to sell its majority stake in Dutch frozen snack maker GoodLife Foods to IK Partners.

The acquisition marks the 13th investment from IK's ninth flagship fund, based on the firm's website.

The vehicle held a final close at its EUR 2.85bn hard-cap in May 2020 and invests in middle market companies with enterprise values of EUR 100m-EUR 500m in Northern Continental Europe, including the Benelux, DACH, France and Nordic regions. It deploys equity tickets of EUR 50m-EUR 150m and expects to invest in approximately 18 companies, according to Unquote Data.

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket previously reported that the Rothschild & Co-run sale process was in its second round on 24 May, with IK Partners in the running. The company was marketed based on more than EUR 25m in EBITDA, as reported.

GoodLife's CEO, Dirk Van der Walle, who owns a stake in the company via Belgian management consultancy Kingco, will be reinvesting as part of the fresh buyout, according to a statement.

Egeria has owned GoodLife (formerly IZICO) since 2014, when it backed a EUR 72m carve-out from Royal Wessanen (now known as Ecotone). It invested in the company via Egeria Private Equity Fund IV, which held a final close on EUR 600m in December 2012, according to Unquote Data.

Under Egeria, GoodLife acquired six companies in three different markets and developed from a carved-out company primarily focused on the Benelux to a European company with a broader product range of frozen snacks, according to the announcement.

Through its partnership with IK, it expects to further expand its product portfolio with on-trend frozen bites, while planning to internationalise through organic initiatives and M&A in- and outside its core geographies, it said.

IK launched its tenth flagship fund in February 2022 with an undisclosed target, according to Unquote Data. The fund will invest in mid market companies in Northern Continental Europe with a focus on Benelux, DACH, France, the Nordics and the UK market.

IK is looking to Spain, Portugal and Italy as its next potential destinations after having strengthened its presence in the UK, with any new office openings likely to come in the medium to long-term, Unquote reported.

Company
Headquartered in Breda, the Netherlands, GoodLife Foods is a European manufacturer of frozen snacks and meal components such as spring rolls, appetisers and burgers, as well as cheese and vegetable bites. The company offers a broad portfolio of branded and private label products which it sells to retail, foodservice and industrial customers across Europe. It has more than 700 employees with six manufacturing plants located across the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.

People
GoodLife Foods − Dirk Van de Walle (CEO).
IK Partners − Remko Hilhorst (managing partner at IK and advisor to the IK IX Fund).
Egeria − Sander van Keken (partner).

Advisers
Vendor – Rothschild & Co. (corporate finance); OC&C (commercial due diligence); PwC (financial due diligence, tax, pension); Allen & Overy (legal).
Equity − Lazard (corporate finance); KPMG (financial, tax, operations, ESG, IT); PwC Strategy (commercial due diligence).