Lion Capital to carve Findus Nordic operations

The move is understood to be driven by the need to reduce Findus' £721m debt load. Lion Capital and adviser Rothschild are reportedly in talks with strategic bidders Nestlé, Orkla and Leroy Seafood Group for the sale of the Nordic operations, which could fetch €700-800m.

Lion Capital bought Findus (then FoodVest Group) from CapVest for £1.1bn in 2008. JP Morgan underwrote the financing with a debt package of £550m senior debt, including a £60m revolving credit facility, and a £180m mezzanine facility.

The Findus Group is a frozen food and seafood producer; it notably owns the Young's, Findus and The Seafood Company brands. The group has 6,000 employees and a turnover in excess of £1.1bn - however it posted a £151.6m loss in 2010. The Nordic operations account for around a third of total revenues according to Findus' latest financial report.

Faced with the risk of Findus breaching its financial covenants, Lion Capital already bought more than £60m worth of junior debt in January this year, at a cost of around 86p to the pound, in order to protect its investment.

Lion Capital is understood to have lost a significant part of its investment in lingerie retailer La Senza in January, when the business was sold to Middle Eastern retail group Alshaya via a pre-pack administration.

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• Exits
• UK / Ireland
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• Lion Capital