European Capital completes sale of Whitworths to Equistone Partners Europe

European Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Capital, has completed the sale of its majority-owned portfolio company, Whitworths, to private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe, for £90m.

Headquartered in Irthlingborough, UK, and established in 1886, Whitworths is a supplier of branded and private label whole foods such as dried fruit, nuts and seeds and owns a portfolio of brands, including Whitworths and Sunny.

It caters to the UK’s leading food retailers, and recently entered the Irish grocery market.

For the year ended April 2013, the company reported revenues of £157.3m.

European Capital received £59m in proceeds from the sale and its compounded annual rate of return over the life of the investment was 2.4%.

European Capital Financial Services president Ira Wagner said: "Our purchase of Whitworths was initially impacted by the economic downturn, and so we laboured hard with the management and employees of Whitworths to de-risk the company’s business model and return it to good health, which we are pleased to have accomplished over the past several years."

Equistone stated that it would further develop Whitworths’ product range and enhance its branded proposition, as well as consider acquiring complementary businesses.

Equistone Partners Europe’s Joyce Church said that Whitworths is the market leader in dried fruit, nut and seed products.

"The management team has delivered on its strategy to date, and we look forward to working with them to help the business continue to develop, expanding distribution and product offering," Church added.

Whitworths CEO Peter Utting said: "We are excited to work with the team at Equistone to explore new opportunities, and we are committed to continuing to deliver our exceptional product range and service to our current and prospective customers."

Stamford Partners provided financial advice to European Capital on the transaction.

Since its inception in 2005, European Capital has invested €3.5bn in more than 100 companies in Europe, including €1.1bn in one-stop buyouts in nine different companies, and has fully exited 59 portfolio companies.