Houlihan Lokey Advises Innovative Bites

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Innovative Bites Ltd has acquired Hancocks Group, the UK's leading supplier of wholesale sweets, from H2 Equity Partners and management. The transaction was completed on April 12, 2017.

Founded in 2008 and based in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, Innovative Bites has demonstrated exceptional growth to become one of the UK's leading importers and wholesalers of American food products. In April 2016, Innovative Bites purchased Bonds of London, one of the UK's oldest confectionery businesses, and has since nearly doubled its annual turnover.

The acquisition of Hancocks marks a major move for Innovative Bites and is its largest acquisition to date. Specialising in the wholesale of confectionery to independent retailers and other businesses, Hancocks offers in excess of 5,000 branded and own-label products across 20 UK sites, stretching from Dundee to Portsmouth. The combined group will boast a sales team of over 150, selling to over 40,000 customers and offering more than 7,000 confectionery products.

This transaction represents Houlihan Lokey's industry and capital markets expertise combining to deliver a superior result for the firm's clients.