Private-equity firm Lion Capital, the owners of Young’s Seafood, has acquired collapsed UK company Cumbrian Seafood.

Lion Capital paid an undisclosed fee for the County Durham-based firm, which owns brands such as Perfect Catch, Ocean Pure and For the Love of Fish, immediately after it went into administration.

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Cumbrian admitted it was looking for a buyer in October after being hit by rising raw material costs.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the administrators of Cumbrian, yesterday (5 December) confirmed the sale of the business, customer contracts and equipment to Lion Capital.

PwC said the sale would secure the “immediate future” of 570 staff at its operations across three sites in the North of England.

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Sean Hamilton, director at PwC in Newcastle, said: “The sale means that it remains business as usual for customers and staff. I’m delighted that we have been able to secure a sale of the business, enable the transfer of all employees and preserve the continuity of supply to customers in the run up to Christmas.”

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Peter Vassallo, chief executive of Cumbrian, added: “Whilst I recognise that it is a difficult time for all concerned, this transaction is in the best interests of our employees and customers.”

A spokesman from Young’s confirmed it would be working with Cumbrian and is investigating its options about how to integrate the firm into its business. 

Leendert den Hollander, chief executive of Young’s Seafood Limited, said: “This is the beginning of a process and the teams involved will work hard to understand the business and consider in detail how best to take the customer contracts forward.  Our focus is on customers – on fulfilling their contracts – and consulting with new employees on possible options for the future.”