ECI sells MPM to 3i for £170m

Katharine Hidalgo
09 November 2020

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ECI Partners has sold pet food producer MPM to 3i, which has invested around ТЃ125m for a majority stake.

3i invests from a listed evergreen vehicle. Its private equity team provides investment packages for growing companies, backing entrepreneurs and management teams of mid-market companies with enterprise values typically of €100-500m.

The equity value of the deal is £125m, while the enterprise value of the company is £170m, according to Unquote sister publication.

MPM's management team will stay on with the company.

ECI was due to collect final bids for the company at the beginning of November 2020 after selecting several sponsors for the auction's second round in October, according to Unquote sister publication Mergermarket. The process was initially postponed due to the coronavirus crisis, but was relaunched in the second half of 2020. Other sponsors involved in the process included Livingbridge and Graphite Capital.

Previous funding
ECI acquired the company in March 2016 in a deal reportedly worth £50m, using a debt package provided by HSBC. It drew capital from ECI 10, which closed on £500m in September 2014.

Company
Headquartered in Manchester, MPM was founded in 2002 and owns pet food brands such as Applaws, Encore and Reveal. It has an established presence in the UK, EMEA and APAC, with a business in North America. International sales account for more than 60% of revenues, according to a statement.The company was marketed based on revenues of £95m and EBITDA of £12m.

People
3i – Rupert Howard (director).
MPM – Julian Bambridge (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Harris Williams (corporate finance).