UK-based private-equity firm Towerbrook Capital is reportedly eyeing the merger of two biscuit manufacturers – Fox’s Biscuits and France-headquartered, European player Biscuit International.
Sky News has said Towerbrook is in talks with Biscuit International’s owner, the French private-equity house Qualium Investissement, to buy the business, which has operations in a number of European countries, including the UK.
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The broadcaster, citing City sources, reported Towerbrook is drawing up plans to merge Biscuit International with Fox’s Biscuits, the UK-based supplier owned by local food major Boparan Holdings, also home to 2 Sisters Food Group.
just-food has approached Towerbrook for a reaction to the report but there had been no response at the time of writing. Boparan said: “We never publicly comment on market rumour and speculation.”
Qualium became the majority shareholder in the then French biscuit maker Biscuit Poult in 2014.
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In 2016, Poult embarked on what has become a series of acquisitions, including snapping up Dutch counterpart Banketgroep and German supplier A&W. In December that year, French fund CM-CIC Investissements also became an investor in Poult, saying it wanted “to support the creation of Europe’s leading private-label biscuit producer”.
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By GlobalDataIn May 2018, the renamed Biscuit International acquired the UK’s Northumbrian Fine Foods, a manufacturer of gluten- and milk-free biscuits, from CriSeren Foods for an undisclosed amount.
Two months later, the group bought Spanish peer Arluy, adding Spain to its roster of European markets. Biscuit International describes itself as “the leading European manufacturer of private-label sweet biscuits”, with 14 factories, turnover of EUR400m (US$437.6m) and staff of 1,500.
The ownership of Fox’s Biscuits has been the subject of speculation for a number of years. Boparan acquired Fox’s as part of its takeover of Northern Foods in 2011. In 2014, reports emerged linking another UK manufacturer, Burton’s Biscuit Co., with interest in Fox’s.
In January 2017, Boparan went public, revealing there had been “a preliminary approach” for Fox’s but no deal emerged. By the autumn of that year, Sky News reported Fox’s and Burton’s had revisited talks to merge.
Boparan has offloaded a series of assets in recent quarters, including selling pizza assets to Nomad Foods and its red-meat operations to Ireland’s Kepak Group.
Yesterday, Burton’s did announce an acquisition, revealing it had purchased Scotland-based shortbread and chutney maker Paterson Arran for an undisclosed sum.
