Sun, 24 Mar 2013 | BUSINESS SALE
Whitworths, one of the UK’s biggest snack-food manufacturers, is being put up for sale by private equity firm, European Capital, with a £100m price tag.
According to the Sunday Times, European Capital has tasked food and drink investment advisers, Stamford Partners, to locate possible buyers for the Northamptonshire-based firm.
Whitworths began as a mill 126 years ago and for many years simply provided flour to local bakers. In 1932, the company expanded production to supply the wheat for a popular new breakfast cereal called Weetabix. The company continued steady growth, acquiring mills and bakeries and its own fleet of lorries. A merger and a management buyout followed, with the business moving from strength to strength and rapidly increasing its export markets.
The firm now employs approximately 350 people manufacturing a range of fruit and nut mixes and other natural and healthy ingredients.
Sales for the year ended 30th April 2012 were a robust £145m, up from £119m a year earlier, though pre-tax profits were somewhat lower at £5.6m, down from £7.4m.
A £100m sale of the business would represent a modest return for European Capital on its initial investment of £85m, the price paid in 2006 to the-then owners Gresham Partners.
The business operates in the UK with an international presence and specialises in providing comprehensive recruitment solutions to customers in the technical sector.
The company has traded for 16 years, based in the Northwest and operating nationally providing temporary staff to large corporate clients.
The company is well-established and operates from a third party owned quarry in Lincolnshire. The business quarries, manufactures and supplies a range of aggregate products, gabion stone and provides associated products and services throughout the Un...
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