Paine & Partners has made an investment in Meadow Foods, one of the UK’s largest suppliers of milk and dairy ingredients to the food industry.
Meadow Foods was founded in 1992 and currently processes more than 500 million liters of milk each year. Products include butter, sweetened condensed milks, chocolate crumb, cultured products, creams and milks (editor’s note – chocolate crumb is a blend of sugar, milk and cocoa which, when vacuum cooked, can be dried and milled to form a powdered ‘crumb’ product).
Last year, Meadow Foods supplied over 100,000 tons of dairy ingredients to manufacturers operating in the prepared foods, bakery, confectionary and ice cream sectors. Meadow Food’s milk supplies are sourced from over 550 farmers from across the North of England, the Midlands, and North & West Wales. The company has facilities in Chester, Peterborough and Holme-on-Spalding Moor and employs more than 275 people. Annual revenues for the company are estimated at £350 million ($447 million). Meadow Foods, led by Simon Chantler, Executive Chairman, is headquartered south of Liverpool in Chester, UK (www.meadowfoods.com).
With the closing of this transaction, the Chantler family will remain a shareholder of the company and the Pickering family will exit as shareholders in Meadow Foods. Remaining capital from the investment will be used to support Meadow Foods’ strategy to grow its business through organic expansion and add-on acquisitions.
“In Meadow Foods, we are making a strategic investment in an industry leader that we believe is poised for continued growth,” said Dexter Paine, Chairman, CEO and a founding partner of Paine & Partners. “We see opportunities to drive growth both organically by increasing production, expanding into new product lines and markets, and through acquisitions that leverage the company’s supply network and customer relationships.”
Paine & Partners provides equity for management buyouts, going private transactions, and company expansion and growth programs. Sectors of interest include the food and agribusiness industries. The firm is currently investing through its $893 million Paine & Partners Fund IV. Paine & Partners was founded in 2006 and has offices in New York, Chicago and San Mateo, CA (www.painepartners.com).
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 9-15-16
