Synova supports MBO of Mintec

Synova acquired its stake in Mintec from the Peksa family, which founded the business. The MBO was led by CEO Tony Pauley, who joined the company in 2016. Further terms were not disclosed.

Synova partner Philip Shapiro said the investment was motivated by an environment of widespread food inflation and changing global supply and demand patterns – the GP believes improved data and analytics capability in that space can lead to more effective negotiations and better margin management.

The GP is currently investing from Synova III, which closed on £250m in 2016; this marks the fifth investment for the vehicle. The fund typically invests between £10-30m in UK companies, valued at between £10-100m.

A couple of days prior to announcing the investment in Mintec, Synova completed the management buy-in of AllClear, a travel insurance broker focused on customers with pre-existing medical conditions. The fund was at the time believed to be deployed at around 50%.

Company
Established in 1987, Mintec's cloud-based platform aggregates data series on raw commodity prices and releases a million data points each year. It then provides this data and an analytics toolset on a subscription basis to food retailers, food manufacturers and suppliers to support them in reporting, analysing and interpreting food ingredients markets.

Mintec's customers include Tesco, Albertsons, Unilever and Mars. According to the most recently available public information, Mintec generated a turnover of £4.4m with operating profit of £198,000 in the year ending in September 2016.

People
Equity – Philip Shapiro (managing partner); Zachary Tsai (investment director); Thomas Usher, Charles Dale (investment managers).

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