Private equity fund swoops for Yorkshire sports nutrition firm

SPORTS nutrition brand PhD Nutrition has been acquired by private equity fund B&B Investment Partners.
 
Hull-based PhD is a leading brand in the fast-growing sports nutrition market. The company was founded by Jason Rickaby and Mark Bowering in 2005 and has grown to become one of the country’s largest independent brands in sports nutrition. PhD has developed a multi-channel distribution model, which includes e-Commerce, wholesale, retail and grocery. Key customers include Holland & Barrett, Amazon, Tesco and GNC.

London-based B&B Investment Partners is the manager of a specialised investment fund focused on consumer brands within the health and wellness, personal care, beauty and consumer healthcare sectors. Its money comes from Alliance Boots – however it is a completely separate entity.

Corporate finance firm Convex Capital led the deal. The deal was originated by senior vice president, James Edge and managing partner, Neil Worsley. The team also included Neil Worsley, Andrew Clarke and Gareth Lewis.

Convex Capital structured a deal that valued the business at 10x EBITDA and delivered 83% of the consideration on completion.

“The team at Convex added lots of value and made the process feel very smooth. Being like-minded made a huge difference for us”, said Jason Rickaby and Mark Bowering.

Convex managing partner, Worsley, added: “Achieving results like this for Jason and Mark is the reason why we get up the in the morning. The team at PhD Nutrition has built a great brand; the pressure was on to put together a great deal. B&B Investment Partners have the experience to take the business to the next level and we wish them every success.”