Yorkshire Bank feasts on £8.7m pasta deal

BANKERS in Birmingham have provided £8.7m to a national pasta food company to facilitate the growth of the business.

The finance deal, agreed through Yorkshire Bank, will provide senior debt and working capital to Pasta King Group in a deal which also sees a partial realisation of its investment for private equity owners NBGI Private Equity.

Founded in 1994, Pasta King Group is a leading manufacturer, supplier and distributor of innovative branded and own label meals for the UK foodservice, education, retail and health sectors.

It has sold more than 100m meals and has recently added ranges including healthy rice-based meals and ‘grab & go’ snacks.

From its headquarters in Devon, the business has been owned by its management team of Howard Farquhar, Ian Rick and Guy Truman, alongside NBGI, since 2009.

The new funding transaction was led by Ian Howey and Ian Mansell, Acquisition Finance Directors from Yorkshire Bank’s Business and Private Banking Centre in Birmingham. Richard Babington led the transaction for NBGI Private Equity.

Mr Howey said: “Pasta King is a well-known business which has developed a strong brand profile, particularly in the secondary school market.  

“Through our Exeter-based colleagues at Clydesdale Bank, we have had a dialogue with the Pasta King board for many years and we look forward to working with the team as the business expands its product ranges and enters new markets.”

Mr Farquhar, managing director of Pasta King, said: “We have enjoyed working with the Yorkshire Bank team. They delivered a package of facilities which meet the combined objectives of both the business and NBGI and give us a good degree of flexibility.”

Yorkshire Bank was advised by Paul Ray, Head of Banking at law firm Browne Jacobson, which has its head office in Birmingham.  

Mr Ray said: “We are delighted to have successfully completed the transaction for our clients, the first corporate finance transaction we have completed in the south west since we opened our Exeter office earlier this year.

“This injection of funding will allow Pasta King to grow its customer base and demonstrates that significant banking lending is being made available for sound companies with a strong and established trading record.”

Financial due diligence was provided by Mark Greaves, of Francis Clark, Exeter and Robin Leggett, of MCi reported on the market.