Houlihan Lokey Advises Bain Capital Private Equity

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that our client Bain Capital Private Equity (Bain Capital) has acquired Valeo Foods, a portfolio company of CapVest Partners. The transaction closed on 30 September, 2021. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Valeo Foods is a leading European ambient food company operating from a number of established growth platforms across the UK, Europe, and Ireland. Valeo Foods offers a diversified portfolio of leading food brands—including Jacob’s, Rowse, Kettle, Odlums, Barratt, and Balconi, among others—across various categories and channels. The group is also a significant producer of private label products and has long-standing relationships with all major retailers.

As a fast-growing consolidator in the food sector, Valeo Foods has expanded rapidly and grown annual net sales to approximately €1.1 billion for the 12 months through to March 2021, from less than €200 million in 2010. Today, the company serves 106 markets globally, produces more than 400,000 tonnes annually across its 24 manufacturing facilities, and employs more than 4,000 people. Seamus Kearney, Group CEO of Valeo Foods, will continue to lead the business with the existing management team.

Bain Capital Private Equity has partnered closely with management teams to provide the strategic resources that build great companies and help them thrive since its founding in 1984. Bain Capital Private Equity’s global team of approximately 550 professionals creates value for its portfolio companies through its global platform and depth of expertise in key vertical industries, including healthcare, consumer/retail, financial and business services, industrials, and technology, media, and telecommunications. Bain Capital has 22 offices on four continents. The firm has made primary or add-on investments in more than 1,000 companies since its inception. In addition to private equity, Bain Capital invests across asset classes, including credit, real estate, public equity, and venture capital, managing more than $130 billion in total and leveraging the firm’s shared platform to capture opportunities in strategic areas of focus.

This deal represents another successful transaction for Houlihan Lokey in the food industry after recently supporting Vivera in its sale to JBS as well as the sale of the North American business of ARYZTA AG to Lindsay Goldberg.

Houlihan Lokey provided financial advice to the buyer.