Wholebake and Deeside Cereals merge to form a new player in better-for-you snack bar and cereal space
The acquisition of private label cereal maker Deeside Cereals following the procurement of snack producer Wholebake at the end of July. The financials of both deals were not disclosed.
However, the London-based private equity firm has disclosed it is merging the two businesses to form a combined group to make a splash in the fast-moving healthy snack and breakfast cereal market.
Deeside Cereals is a UK manufacturer of private label breakfast cereals and cereal bars for leading food retailers. Wholebake is a UK co-manufacturer of healthy snacking products.
“By combining the two businesses, we believe we have created the premier contract manufacturer of snack bars and cereals in the UK and diversified the Group’s offering into another strand of the healthy food manufacturing space,” said Ken Terry, a partner at Elysian Capital.
Set to lead the way
Peter Unsworth (non-executive chairman) and Simon Faithfull (chief executive) will lead the new entity.
“Wholebake and Deeside Cereals are a great fit with complementary capabilities,” said Unsworth.
“We share similar values and ethics and a passion for innovation to meet emerging consumer needs and efficient service to meet customer demands. By coming together, we can continue to add value and lead the way in the expanding snack bar category and own label cereal markets.”
This transaction represents the fourth investment in the last month from the Elysian Capital III LP Fund, which closed in September 2020 at £325m. The independent firm focuses on the lower mid-market in the UK and Ireland, acquiring majority stakes in growth businesses valued between £20m and £100m.
It acquired Deeside Cereals from Agrotech Impex PTE.
Deeside chairman Ravi Sreenivasa said, “We are delighted by the progress Deeside has made under Agrotech’s ownership over the past eight years. In that time, we have become one of the leading providers of private label cereals in the UK market, invested significantly in the plant and become a major employer in the Deeside community.”
Elysian Capital was advised by Stephenson Harwood LLP (legal); Aon (insurance); ERM (environmental); Crowe Clark Whitehill (financial, tax); Spayne Lindsay (corporate finance) and Food Strategy Associates (commercial).
