PAI Partners shows appetite for the food sector with three deals in a week

Winterbotham Darby supplies chilled foods to UK retailers and the food service sector through its portfolio of brands and own-label operations. Equistone Partners Europe will sell its majority shareholding in the business.

Addo Food produces nearly 300 million own-label and branded savoury pastry products every year. LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, is divesting the company to PAI Partners, while it will also exit its minority shareholding in Winterbotham.

By bringing the two businesses together under one platform, PAI Partners says that both management teams will benefit from the sharing of best practices, new product development and supply chain initiatives. According to the terms of the deal, the companies will remain operationally independent and with the current management teams, led by chief executive officers Deborah Bolton of Addo and Winterbotham’s Steven Higginson.

Also this week, PAI bought a majority stake in Spanish seafood company Angulas Aguinaga from mid-market private equity Portobello Capital and the founding family. After the signing of this agreement, the current shareholders will reinvest in the company and continue to hold a 49.9% stake, PAI said.

The completion of the three transactions is subject to customary regulatory approvals. The firm did not provide any financial details.

Last December, PAI Partners backed the acquisition of Nestlé’s Häagen-Dazs unit for $4bn in a bolt-on deal.

At the moment, the firm manages €13.9bn of dedicated buyout funds and has completed 75 transactions in 11 countries, representing more than €50bn in transaction value since its launch in 1994, it said in a news release.

Source: Private Equity News