European private equity house Silverfleet Capital has acquired Kalle, a manufacturer of sausage casings, for €212.5 million (£183 million).

This is the first investment from Silverfleet’s new fund of €665 million and is one of the largest private equity deals agreed so far this year. Debt for the transaction was secured from a syndicate of banks led by the Bank of Ireland.

Guido May, a partner at Silverfleet Capital, says, ‘The recession-proof nature of the food sector has made it possible for us to secure new debt, with the banks more willing to finance leveraged buy-outs in this sector.’

Silverfleet plans to grow Kalle through a buy and build strategy and has already identified several acquisition targets, according to managing partner Neil MacDougall. The vendor is Montagu Private Equity, which backed a secondary buy-out of Germany-based Kalle in 2004.

The company makes artificial sausage casings and sponge cloths and was founded in 1863.