Deal completed to acquire one of the UK’s largest food wholesalers
An investment firm has acquired SOS Wholesale, one of the largest food wholesalers in the UK for an undisclosed sum.
RDCP has acquired Barnsley and Derby-based SOS Wholesale, a family-run business founded in 1996 by Norman Beckett and his two sons Mark and Steven.
The company employs 120 staff from its 70,000 sq ft warehouse and distribution centre in Derby and sales office in Barnsley.
Its product range extends across 4,500 lines, selling top brands including Mars Bars, Walkers Crisps, Heinz, Nescafe, Colgate, and Fairy. The firm delivers these products in the UK and exports worldwide.
The existing management team led by Mark Beckett and Vipin Patara will work with RDCP founders, Sameer Rizvi and Iryna Dubylovska, on SOS Wholesale’s future growth strategy.
This latest deal is RDCP’s eighth acquisition in the last 18 months, following its most recent takeover of Intelling in October 2021. RDCP now controls $400m/£294m worth of investments across multiple sectors in the UK.
Sameer Rizvi, founder and CEO of RDCP Group, said: “We were extremely impressed by SOS Wholesale and their track record of success and varied customer base which includes major national retailers as well as independents.
“We look forward to working with Mark, Vipin and their team to grow the business further and have plans to expand SOS Wholesale both organically via increased sales channels, but also by bringing bolt-on acquisitions of smaller competitors.“
Iryna Dubylovska, founder and chief strategy officer of RDCP Group, said: “We have ambitious plans to grow our assets under management to $1bn by 2025.
“We’ll continue to invest our growing balance sheet capital into promising British businesses that have a consistent and profitable trading history, committed and ambitious management teams and a defendable and dominant market position within their respective sectors.”
Mark Beckett, managing director of SOS Wholesale, said: “Steven and I are proud to be a part of one of the UK’s fastest growing private conglomerates, RDCP Group.
“We have worked hard to build an excellent reputation of delivering exceptional service and this will continue to be a focus for SOS Wholesale moving forward.”
Vipin Patara, trading director of SOS Wholesale, said: “The future potential is exciting for both organic growth as well as new opportunities. I am really looking forward to working collaboratively with Sameer, Iryna, Mark and the entire SOS team to take SOS Wholesale to the next level.”
Roy Farmer, corporate finance partner at Dains, added: “We worked with Mark and Steven to develop their exit plan, and as part of this process spent a considerable amount of time identifying an appropriate purchaser.
“RDCP’s model of being longer-term investors in businesses, backing strong incumbent management teams and retaining the stability and culture that is embedded within a business made them stand out from the more traditional private equity model.
“I am confident SOS Wholesale, under the leadership of Mark and Vipin and the ownership of RDCP, will go from strength to strength.”
