CHAMP, Manassen Foods Australia complete capitalisation of new company
The combined entity will be Australasia’s Leading Specialty Branded Food Supplier.
13/04/06 CHAMP Private Equity, acting on behalf of the CHAMP II funds (“CHAMP”), together with existing Manassen Foods Australia shareholders, announced that they have completed capitalising a new company, Food Holdings Pty Ltd, trading as Manassen Foods, which will own:
Manassen Foods Australia Pty Ltd (MFA) together with the assets of The Great Southern Foods group King Oscar and Hutchinsons (NZ) Pty Ltd (Hutchinsons). The combined entity will be Australasia’s Leading Specialty Branded Food Supplier. Group total revenue will be in excess of A$250 million per annum with over 350 employees. The price of the acquisitions is confidential.
The businesses to be acquired comprise:
MFA is a privately owned importer, distributor and brand owner of some of Australia’s finest international and local brand names servicing the FMCG grocery trade. The company is the largest of its kind in Australia. MFA boasts a healthy split of business between its exclusive branded agency business and its company owned brands with approximately 50% of the revenue base being derived from the latter. MFA supplies leading brands such as Trident, Castello Cheeses, Walkers Shortbread, The Laughing Cow & Mini Babybel Cheeses, Tilda Rice, Mrs Fields Cookies, McVities Biscuits, Bahlsen Biscuits, S&W Mayonnaise, Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, The Margaret River Dairy Company, Carr’s Water Crackers and Findus Frozen Foods.
Great Southern Foods is a privately owned food company with established brands in the fresh and ambient noodle categories. It also has a strong presence in pro-biotics with a branded offer and heavy involvement in private label pro-biotic drinks. Great Southern Foods’ brands include Wokka Noodles, Bamboo Pot and The Food Song.
King Oscar is an icon brand in the canned fish category – Sardines. It commenced selling in Australia in 1913 and is a market leader worldwide. King Oscar is positioned at the premium end of the category in both price and quality with national distribution across all major retail customers.
Hutchinsons is one of New Zealand’s largest food importers and distributors of leading international food brands. All of its representation is conducted on an exclusive basis. Hutchinsons’ brands include Sharwoods Indian Cuisine, Port Salut Cheese, Jermi Speciality Cheeses, Lurpak Butter and Abba Seafoods. In addition to these brand names, Hutchinsons boast many of the same Manassen agency lines sold and marketed in New Zealand.
The key wholesale grocery segments in which Manassen Foods presently competes is worth around A$ 5 billion, growing at an average rate of 5.5%.
CHAMP will own approximately 51% of Manassen Foods and Mr. Manassen will be the next single largest shareholder. Mr. Phillip Jones from MFA will continue as an Executive Director and retain significant equity. The existing MFA management team will continue running the expanded enterprise.
Funds managed by CHAMP Private Equity provided the majority of the equity for the transaction in partnership with the existing MFA shareholders and members of the senior management team.
CHAMP was advised by Baker and McKenzie and PwC.
