Equistone buys Whitworths in tertiary deal

The investment, which values the firm at £90m, is the 14th deal made via Equistone Partners Europe Fund IV, which is currently invested at around 45%. Equistone held a final close for the fund on €1.5bn in January this year.

The firm's management also bought a share in the business. Debt financing for the transaction was provided by HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland.

The fresh capital will be used to expand Whitworths' product range and to develop the company's own brand. The firm is likely to acquire businesses offering similar products.

European Capital bought the business for £86m from UK private equity firm Gresham in 2006. The exit generated a return of more than 6x at the time for Gresham, which acquired the company in a £15m management buyout in 2001.

Last month, unquote" reported on the potential sale of Whitworths, with GPs such as LDC, CapVest and Equistone showing interest in the firm.

Company
Whitworths, a supplier of own-label and branded dried fruit, nuts and seed products, was founded in 1886 as a family flour-milling business. The firm is headquartered in Northamptonshire.

Operating a supply chain with partners from more than 35 countries, the firm reported revenues of £157.3m in the year to April 2013.

People
Peter Utting is Whitworths's CEO. Joyce Church is a partner at Equistone. Simon Henderson worked on the original deal in 2006 and is European Capital's head of UK buyouts and managing director.

Advisers
Equity – Spayne & Lindsay (Corporate finance); Eversheds (Legal); Alvarez & Marsal (Financial & operational due diligence, tax); Parthenon (Commercial due diligence); Deloitte (Tax); Marsh (Insurance due diligence).
Management – Cornerstone (Commercial due diligence); EMW Law (Legal).
Vendor – KPMG (Financial due diligence); OC&C (Commercial due diligence).

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• Topics
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• Exits
• Equistone Partners Europe
• European Capital