London Food Corporation, a new UK firm set up to buy local gluten-free business Big Oz Industries out of administration, is considering more M&A.
Lalit Premchandani, one of four partners who formed London Food Corporation in May, indicated the new business wanted to continue its deal-making.
“Definitely, 100%,” Premchandani, London Food Corporation’s CEO, said when asked if more acquisitions could follow the Big Oz Industries deal. “We are looking at some. It’s too early to say [which] but there will be some. Every year there will be something added to it.”
Asked if London Food Corporation was studying specific parts of the food sector for possible targets, Premchandani added: “We are looking at sectors which have got growth prospects in them, nothing like something in which there are a lot of players and the growth is not visible, even if they have high turnover. Anywhere where there’s a scope of improvement and product development.”
Premchandani, who has worked much of its career in the metal industry, said he and his three partners had not initially set out to invest in the food industry but were looking for “companies that were in distress and needed turning around”. As a consumer of Big Oz Industries’ products, he was aware of the brand, he said.
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“The business went into administration. The company had too much debt … but [there were] no customer complaints at all. We discovered that the brand was very much liked in the market,” Premchandani said.
Under Big Oz Industries’ previous owners, the company had secured business with customers including UK retailers The Co-op and Holland & Barrett. In 2018, the firm’s sales were GBP1.5m (US$1.9m), although that was down on GBP3m in 2017, Premchandani explained.
Asked to outline London Food Corporation’s plans to breathe fresh life into Big Oz Industries, Premchandani said the new owners had “taken back ten to 20 old customers” and would “soon” re-start business with The Co-op and Holland & Barrett.
He added: “The Big Oz brand as such will be selling on the online space and it will be listed as Big Oz in health shops and independent retailers. The Co-op will be buying it as white label and we will do packaging for them in their branded packaging. Holland & Barrett will be a mixture of both.”
