A&M Capital Europe to acquire majority stake in World of Sweets and Bobby's

Current management will invest alongside the sponsor, according to a press release.

Sister publication Mergermarket reported in March that AMCE was among the second round bidders involved in the Stephens-run sale process for the business, formally known as the IB group.

The former majority shareholder had a roughly 60% stake, sister publication Debtwire reported in December 2022.

The sellside advisor was pitching the business at around GBP 20.4m based on 2022 run-rate, as reported. It generated EBITDA of GBP 12.5m last year and was expected to generate around GBP 18m EBITDA for 2022, as reported.

AMCE's investment is expected to enable the company to strengthen its market position via its existing digital channels and bolt-on acquisitions, according to the press release. It will focus primarily on branded targets in existing and new categories, it said.

AMCE has EUR 650m of assets under management, it said.

Company

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Loughborough, United Kingdom, World of Sweets is a distributor, importer and wholesaler of confectionary products. The group serves a diverse base of more than 60,000 customers and owns brands that include Bobby's, Bonds of London, Kingsway, Crazy Candy Factory and Candy Realms. It has partnerships with international brands, including Pez, Nerds and Tootsie. It rebranded as World of Sweets in December 2021.

People
World of Sweets − Wayne Beedle (CEO).

Advisers
Equity − Weil, Gotshal & Manges, DWF (legal); Houlihan Lokey (corporate finance); MDW Capital Partners (debt adviser); EY Parthenon (commercial adviser); Palladium (digital and IT adviser); Alvarez & Marsal (accounting adviser); EY (tax adviser).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• Alvarez & Marsal
• United Kingdom