Bain Capital buys Valeo from CapVest

The deal places the company enterprise value in excess of €1.7bn, which equates to 10x its €170m EBITDA, according to a source close to the situation.

CapVest hired Goldman Sachs to run the sale of the business in January 2021, according to press reports. The process attracted several bidders, including private equity firms Bain, Cinven and PAI Partners, which all reached the final round of the auction, according to Unquote sister publication Mergermarket.

Following the deal, Valeo CEO Seamus Kearney will continue to lead the business with the existing management team.

Bain intends to further consolidate the company's market position and boost its growth, both organically and through acquisitions.

The sale ends an 11-year holding period for CapVest, which established Valeo when it acquired and merged Irish shelf-stable food businesses Batchelors and Origin Foods, with the aim of creating a pan-European food group with a diversified portfolio of consumer brands.

Under CapVest's ownership, the company expanded rapidly and increased its sales from €200m in 2010 to €1.1bn in 2021. Valeo pursued an intensive acquisition strategy, completing 16 add-ons across the UK, Ireland and continental Europe.

Company
Established in 2010 and headquartered in Dublin, Valeo offers a portfolio of food brands, which includes biscuits maker Jacobs, honey producer Rowse, crisps specialist Kettle, baked goods company Odlums, confectionery manufacturer Barratt and cakes maker Balconi, among others.

The company employs 4,000 staff across 24 facilities located in Ireland, the UK, Italy, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Germany. It serves 106 markets globally and produces a total output of 400,000 tonnes per year.

Valeo generated revenues of around €1.1bn in the year to 31 March 2021.

People
Bain Capital Private Equity – Nigel Walder (managing director).
CapVest – Jason Rodrigues (partner).
Valeo Foods – Seamus Kearney (CEO).

Advisers
Acquirer – Credit Suisse (corporate finance); Houlihan Lokey (legal); Weil Gotshal & Manges (legal); PwC (financial due diligence); OC&C (commercial due diligence); Alix Partners (IT due diligence).
Vendor – Goldman Sachs (corporate finance); Willkie Farr & Gallagher (legal); KPMG (financial due diligence); EY-Parthenon (commercial due diligence); PwC (tax).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• Bain Capital
• CapVest Equity Partners
• Ireland
• Goldman Sachs
• Houlihan Lokey
• PwC
• KPMG
• Willkie Farr & Gallagher
• EY (Ernst & Young)
• Weil Gotshal & Manges