Piper makes 10x as Darwin takes on Maximuscle

Piper Private Equity has recouped 10x its money from the £75m sale of Maximuscle to Darwin Private Equity.

Darwin's acquisition of the sports nutrition business was its first since it launched last year. A debt package was provided by nabCapital, The Royal Bank of Scotland and CapitalSource.

Piper had held Maximuscle since June 2004. At that time, Piper invested £3.2m in the business to take a 40% stake as part of a £9.7m BIMBO deal.

Piper embarked on a brand renewal programme which involved repackaging Maximuscle products and more targeted marketing. Piper also helped to build a much wider distribution network to allow new consumers easier access to the product. This included Asda, Boots and Tesco, as well as Argos and JJB. (Page 32).

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