Atlantic Foods Group exit continues Maven Capital Partners disposal activity

Maven Capital Partners has sold its stake in Atlantic Foods Group through a transaction which represents a 1.8x return.

A five-year investment in Atlantic Foods Group has ended for Maven Capital Partners through a sale to Los Angeles-based Flagship Food Group.

Maven first backed Atlantic Foods Group back in February 2008 through an undisclosed buy-in management buy-out (BIMBO). Since the investment, Atlantic has reportedly doubled its turnover to annual sales of £50 million.

Hampshire-headquartered Atlantic produces chicken products, sauces and dressings for the UK food service market and works with customers such as pub chains.

By disposing of its investment in Atlantic, Maven reports that the deal is its seventh profitable exit in just over a year. Other exits have included the sale of the Homelux Division to US firm QEP Company, disposal of Oliver Kay to Bidfresh and exit of WEMS International to WHEB Partners.

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Atlantic CEO Russell Maddock says that Maven has been an ‘excellent partner’ for the business and has helped with its experience of working in the food sector.

He adds, ‘We are looking forward to working with Flagship and building on what we have achieved to date.

‘Bringing the two businesses together will provide the size and resource needed to support our future growth plans.’

According to a statement, the new combined business will have an annual turnover of £200 million and operate from seven bases in five time zones.

Andrew Symmonds, portfolio manager at Maven, comments, ‘The business has achieved strong year-on-year growth over the life of our investment, through a combination of winning new customers, the introduction of additional products and Atlantic’s ability to gain incremental product listings with existing customers.

‘Atlantic is an example of a thriving UK SME with a strong management team, which has been able to achieve significant growth with private equity backing from Maven.’

Hunter Ruthven

Hunter Ruthven

Hunter Ruthven graduated from the university of Sussex in geography and politics before joining Vitesse Media. He was the Editor for GrowthBusiness.co.uk from 2012 to 2014, before moving on to Caspian...