Seabrook Crisps sold for £35m
SEABROOK CRISPS has been sold to private equity firm LDC for £35m after eight decades of ownership by the founding Brook family.
LDC has taken a majority stake as it backed a management buyout led by chief executive Jonathan Bye, who joined in 2012, and the transaction will see a full exit for owner Ken Brook-Chrispin.
The investment will support Seabrook as it looks to invest in its manufacturing infrastructure, new product development and progress international sales opportunities. In addition, the team has identified a number of potential acquisition targets.
Jonathan Bye, chief executive at Seabrook Crisps, said: “LDC’s support for the MBO of Seabrook Crisps is great news and will help us to not only deliver but accelerate our growth plan. It will enable us to invest both in our operations to drive further efficiencies and flexibility and to increase marketing investment to continue to build the brand’s national profile.
“Importantly, this will drive the business forward with the same team that has put our winning brand strategy in place. As the main challenger brand in the category we wanted to keep momentum and the same culture and expertise that helped deliver our growth so far.”
The management team included marketing director Kevin Butterworth, chief operating officer Daniel Woodwards and commercial director Jon Wood.
The company began when Charles Brook founded a fish and chip shop in Bradford in 1939, and, due to a misheard “C Brook”, the name Seabrook was born. When his son, Colin, returned from service in World War II they created the first packet of Seabrook’s crisps, and the business had remained in the family as it grew.
It employs nearly 150 staff and is still based in Bradford. Its most recent accounts, for the year to March 2014, showed a pre-tax profit of £1.64m on sales of £24.5m.
John Garner, head of LDC in Yorkshire and the North East, said: “Our investment in Seabrook highlights LDC’s continued desire to back high quality, regionally based management teams and builds on strong local investment momentum following the recent deals with Adler and Allan and SSP. I am pleased we have been able to back the team at Seabrook given that it has such a strong local heritage and resonance in its Northern heartland.”
The transaction was led by Dale Alderson, Ged Gould and Simon Braham at LDC. Charlie Barker and Mike Selina from Yorkshire Bank provided senior debt facilities to support the transaction.
LDC was advised by Alex Hartley at KPMG and a team at Pinsent Masons.
Corporate financiers McQueen, management advisers Sentio and legal advisors Walker Morris’s corporate partners Richard Naish and Debbie Jackson supported the vendors through the sale process. Deloitte also advised the Brook-Chrispin family on the transaction.
