Elysian Capital III LP Acquisition of Deeside Cereals I Limited

Elysian Capital III LP is pleased to announce, the acquisition of Deeside Cereals I Limited from Agrotech Impex PTE Limited, by its investee company, Wholebake Limited. This represents the fourth investment in the last month from the Elysian Capital III LP Fund which closed in September 2020 at £325million.

The acquisition of Deeside represents the first add-on by Elysian after the acquisition of Wholebake on 31 July 2021.

Based in North Wales, Deeside Cereals is a leading manufacturer of innovative private label breakfast cereals and cereal bars for leading food retailers.

Wholebake, also based in North Wales, is a premier co-manufacturer of healthy snacking products, co-producing bars and other snack formats for customers across a range of sectors alongside their own brands Bounce, NINE and Brynmor.

The acquisition will bring together Wholebake and Deeside Cereals to form a new combined group operating in the bar and cereal categories. While Deeside Cereals and Wholebake each has its own unique strengths, by coming together there is a fantastic opportunity to create scale and to bring new products to market faster.

Peter Unsworth (Non-Executive Chairman) and Simon Faithfull (CEO) will lead the new combined group with a focus on innovating and driving growth in both the expanding snack bar category and the own label cereal market.

Peter Unsworth, Non-Executive Chairman, said:

“Wholebake and Deeside Cereals are a great fit with complementary capabilities. 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.”

Ken Terry at Elysian Capital, said:

“I am delighted we have been able to bring Deeside and Wholebake together, in line with our stated strategy of growing our businesses both organically and through opportunistic acquisition. 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.

Ravi Sreenivasa said:

“It has been a great pleasure to represent Deeside Cereals as its Chairman. We are delighted by the progress Deeside has made under Agrotech’s ownership over the last 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. We wish Deeside Cereals continued success on this next phase of its journey under the management of Wholebake.”

Elysian Capital was advised by: Stephenson Harwood (Legal); Aon (Insurance); ERM (Environmental); Crowe Clark Whitehill (Financial, Tax); Spayne Lindsay (Corporate Finance) and Food Strategy Associates (Commercial). Working Capital facilities were provided by Shawbrook Bank.

For further information, please contact:

Ken Terry, CEO Elysian Capital LLP                  ken@elysiancapital.com