Mobeus quadruples dough on garlic

Kimberly Romaine
07 December 2012

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The sale of Brookerpaks Ltd back to its management after a 10-year courtship sees Mobeus generate a 26% IRR.

Mobeus pumped £500,000 into the business, and sees nearly £2m as a result of this sale, which values Brookerpaks at £3.5m. The announcement comes 48 hours after Mobeus launched a linked fundraise for three of its Income & Growth VCTs.

Tenon Corporate Finance led the deal for management.

Previous funding
Mobeus (then GLE Development Capital) initially backed the buyout of Brookerpaks from Harrington Food Groups at the end of 2002. Back then, Mobeus invested £500,000 for a minority stake and has not injected any additional capital since.

The management team also invested in the unratcheted deal, retaining the remainder of equity in the newco. The Bank of Scotland provided a £2m package of acquisition debt and working capital facilities for the 2002 buyout. There was also deferred consideration due to the vendor. The 2002 deal was initiated by management's corporate finance adviser, Vantis Corporate Finance.

Company
Kent-based Brookerpaks was founded in 1983 as a greengrocers and today sources and supplies fresh garlic, ginger and vacuum-packed vegetables to supermarkets and the wholesale trade. Today Brookerpaks generates a turnover of £8.8m, up from £6.3m at the time of the 2002 buyout. Employee figures have remained steady at 40.

People
Jonathan Gregory and Eric Tung led the original deal. John Brandon, portfolio director at Mobeus, had a seat on the Brookerpaks board and managed the exit. The management team was led by David Gregory and Ian Lambert.

Advisers
Management – Tenon Corporate Finance, Steve Brown (Corporate finance).
Equity – Marriott Harrison, Jonathan Lee Hunt (Legal).