Houlihan Lokey Advises Symington's

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Symington’s Ltd. (Symington’s), a portfolio company of funds managed by Intermediate Capital Group PLC (ICG), has been acquired by Newlat Food S.p.A (Newlat). The transaction closed on 4 August 2021.

Founded in 1827, Symington’s is the UK’s largest independently owned ambient food manufacturer with a leading position across multiple categories, including instant hot snacks, home baking, flavoured couscous, croutons, and traditional cooking sauces. The company owns brands such as Naked, Mug Shot, Chicken Tonight, Ragu, and Twistd and is a strategic own-label partner for many of the UK’s major supermarkets. Symington’s employs more than 900 staff across two locations in Leeds, a croutons and bread snacks factory in Bradford, and a wet meals site in Durham. The company also exports to Europe and Australia and has a growing business in the US.

Founded in 2004 and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, Newlat is a multinational, multibrand, and multichannel player in the Italian and European agri-food sector. The company is mainly active in the pasta, dairy, bakery, and special products sectors and in particular in the health and wellness, gluten free, and baby food sectors. It has a large portfolio of products and well-known brands in Italy and internationally. With products sold in more than 60 countries, Newlat holds a consolidated positioning in the Italian and German markets. It has 1,500 employees across 14 production plants in Italy and one in Germany and posted revenues of €517 million in 2020.

Houlihan Lokey served as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of Symington’s and assisted in initiating, structuring, and negotiating all aspects of the transaction on their behalf.

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 Winterbotham Darby to PAI. The transaction also highlights Houlihan Lokey’s cross-border expertise. This is the 31st transaction for the Global Consumer team in 2021 so far.

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