Crisp manufacturer Tyrrells up for sale with £100m price tag
MIDLAND-based snack food business Tyrrells is reportedly being placed on the market with an asking price set at around £100m.
The Herefordshire company, which last month was awarded its first Queen’s Award for Enterprise, is thought likely to attract big brand interest.
Reports said current owner Langholm Capital, the private equity firm backed by Unilever, had appointed financial advisers McQueen to work on the sale.
The £100m price tag represents a significant premium on the £40m it paid entrepreneur and founder William Chase in 2008.
Cereals giant Kelloggs, Blackpool-based sherbet fountain makers Tangerine and Calbee, and a Japanese snack company, have all been suggested as potential buyers.
Hain Daniels, the UK arm of Hain Celestial, which owns the New Covent Garden Soup Company and last month acquired the children’s food brand Ella’s Kitchen, has also been mentioned as a possible purchaser.
Part of the appeal is thought to be Tyrrells’ growing popularity in international markets.
The Leominster-based crisps and snacks manufacturer, which employs 150 people, exports to 30 countries worldwide and has achieved earnings growth of 113%. It has entered new markets in China and Russia, and its products demand a high premium in places like Moscow where a packet of its crisps can sell for £5.
Mr Chase used the £30m he made from the original sale of Tyrrells to start a vodka distillery and the company’s Chase vodka is now regarded as one of the finest new brands on the global market.
