Author: oghma

Oghma Partners LLP (“Oghma Partners”) is pleased to announce its role as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of Surrey based Taste Trends Limited (“Taste Trends”) with regards to the sale of the business to Lakeland Dairies Co-operative Society Limited of Ireland (“Lakeland Dairies”). The deal was completed at the end of December 2014.

Taste Trends is the leading supplier of frozen yogurts to the UK food service industry. Lakeland Dairies is a leading dairy processing co-operative and a global market leader in the manufacturing of dairy-based products, exporting to 70 countries worldwide.

Michael Hanley, Chief Executive of Lakeland Dairies said, “We’re very pleased to make this acquisition where Taste Trends is an excellent business with innovative products, highly experienced management, great customers and strong growth prospects.  We look forward to serving the business development needs of our valued foodservice customers across the UK and to developing this opportunity further across our international foodservice business using our well defined routes to market throughout the globe.”

Taste Trends Transaction Completes Successful 2014 for Oghma Partners

The completion of the sale of Taste Trends rounds off a successful year for Oghma Partners, with the completion of nine transactions in the year across a number of consumer industry sub-sectors and across multiple geographies. In addition to Taste Trends, the completed transactions during the year were:

• 1 September 2014: Oghma Partners advised DS Smith Plc on the sales of its Flamingo (Denmark) and Cellplast (Sweden) packaging businesses to BEWi Group (Norway);
• 30 July 2014: Oghma Partners advised Irish Dairy Board/Adams Food Ingredients Limited on the acquisition of dairy ingredients business FoodTec UK Limited from Dairy Crest plc;
• 2 July 2014: Oghma Partners advised the shareholders of Softbox Systems Limited, a temperature controlled packaging business, on the sale of a majority stake to Great Point Partners, LLC (US);
• 1 July 2014: Oghma Partners advised DS Smith Plc on the sale of its UK print solutions business to MBM Print & Supply Chain Solutions Limited;
• 23 May 2014: Oghma Partners advised Cargill Inc on the sale of its Spanish texturising compounds business to Mane Group (France);
• 1 February 2014: Oghma Partners advised the shareholders of Mary Berry and Daughter Limited, a salad dressings and sauces business, to RH Amar Limited;
• 31 January 2014: Oghma Partners advised DS Smith Plc on the sale of its Cool Logistics packaging business to Pelican Products Inc (US).

For further information or for details on Oghma Partners’ services please contact:

Oghma Partners LLP is pleased to announce the release of the 2014 M&A Review of the UK Food & Beverage Sector.

The report highlights several of the key transactions that took place in the Food & Beverage sector in 2014, including the sale of United Biscuits, Premier Foods’ disposal of Hovis and the flotation of Fevertree.

The total number of M&A deals in 2014 was at a similar level to 2013, with strong activity in the second half of the year. Further analysis is contained within the review.

To request a copy or for further information on Oghma Partners, please do get in touch via our “Contact us” link.

Oghma Partners LLP is pleased to announce its role as exclusive corporate finance adviser to DS Smith Plc in relation to the following transaction, which completed on 1st September 2014:

DS Smith Plc disposes of EPS and EPP Packaging business

September 1, 2014

Oghma Partners LLP (“Oghma Partners”, “Oghma”) is pleased to announce its role as exclusive financial adviser to DS Smith Plc (“DS Smith”) in relation to the £24m sale of its Danish and Swedish Expanded Polystyrene (“EPS”) and Expanded Polypropylene (“EPP”) packaging entities to Norwegian EPS specialist BEWi Produkter AS (“BEWi Group”). The transactions were signed on 24 June 2014 and completed on 1 September 2014.

With a combined 6 sites across the two geographies, the Flamingo (Denmark) and Cellplast (Sweden) businesses focus on the design and production of packaging and technical products made from EPS and EPP.

The businesses will become part of BEWi Group, a family-run packaging company backed by private equity company Verdane Capital. BEWi Group has been developing and manufacturing EPS products since the company started in 1980, and both Flamingo and Cellplast will play an important part in fulfilling BEWi’s vision of becoming the  leading EPS company in Northern Europe.

Managing Director of DS Smith Denmark, Thomas Kure Jakobsen, said of the transaction:
“DS Smith Plc’s focus lies in continuously positioning ourselves as the market leader within innovative recycled packaging solutions for consumer goods, and our core business will always be corrugated and corrugated-related accessories. Our EPS activities represent a very healthy business with a big potential, which we would very much like to see being realized, and we completely trust BEWi Group to be able to do that with their vast experience in EPS manufacturing and their highly specialized business. Not only is the sale of our EPS businesses a natural next step for both DS Smith and BEWi Group, it is a genuine win/win situation.”

For the full press release please click here.

Oghma Partners LLP is pleased to announce its role as exclusive corporate finance adviser to The Irish Dairy Board in relation to the following transaction, which completed on 30th July 2014:

Irish Dairy Board Acquires FoodTec UK

July 30, 2014

The Irish Dairy Board (‘IDB’) is pleased to announce its wholly owned subsidiary Adams Food Ingredients Limited (‘AFI’), has acquired the business and assets of FoodTec UK Limited (‘FoodTec’), a specialist ingredients business, from Dairy Crest.

AFI, located in Leek, is a food ingredient powder blending business which specialises in sourcing, formulating, blending and packing food ingredients for UK food manufacturers and nutrition brands.

Commenting on the announcement, Joe Collins, Managing Director of the Irish Dairy Board Dairy Trading & Ingredients division said: ‘The FoodTec acquisition presents exciting opportunities to grow both the AFI and FoodTec businesses in collaboration with both existing and new customers across new products, technologies and processes.  The acquisition is also in-line with IDB’s strategy to invest in growth dairy businesses that deliver strong returns to our members, Ireland’s dairy processors and Irish dairy farmers.”

The completion of this transaction brings to seven the number of acquisition and disposal processes completed by Oghma Partners in the year to date.

For the full press release please click here.

Oghma Partners LLP is pleased to announce its role as exclusive corporate finance adviser to Softbox Systems Limited in relation to the following transaction, which completed on 2nd July 2014:

Softbox Systems Ltd sells majority stake to Great Point Partners, LLC

July 2, 2014

Oghma Partners LLP Advises the Shareholders of Softbox Systems Limited on the Sale of a Majority Stake to Great Point Partners, LLC  Oghma Partners LLP (“Oghma Partners”,“Oghma”) is pleased to announce its role as exclusive financial adviser to the shareholders of Softbox Systems Limited (“Softbox”) on the sale of a majority stake in the business to Great Point Partners, LLC (“GPP”), a leading US-based healthcare investment firm with approximately US$800 million of equity capital under management.
Softbox is a leading provider of temperature controlled packaging solutions for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The Company’s products play a critical role in maintaining the integrity of temperature-sensitive drugs, vaccines and active pharmaceutical ingredients during the distribution process. The company currently supplies a number of packaging solutions to more than half of the world’s 50 largest pharmaceutical producers. Softbox has a global presence, with headquarters in the United Kingdom and locations in the United States, India, Singapore, and Australia.

The investment by GPP will enable Softbox to continue its strong growth trajectory, enabling the business to expand its global geographic footprint, diversify its product offering, and continue to invest in superior customer service for its clients.

For the full press release please click here.

Oghma Partners LLP is pleased to announce its role as exclusive corporate finance adviser to DS Smith Plc in relation to the following transaction, which completed on 1st July 2014:

Oghma Partners LLP Advises DS Smith Plc on the disposal of DS Smith Print Solutions in a buy-in management buy-out transaction (“BIMBO”)

July 1, 2014

Oghma Partners LLP (“Oghma Partners”) is pleased to announce its role as exclusive financial adviser to DS Smith Plc on the sale of its Pollokshaws-based print solutions business, DS Smith Print Solutions (“DS Smith Print Solutions”), in a BIMBO transaction to a management team operating under the name of MBM Print & Supply Chain Solutions.

DS Smith Print Solutions is a leading provider of pre-press, lithographic print, kitting, fulfilment and bespoke customer supply-chain solutions. The business currently supplies a number of electronic consumer goods companies in c.35 different countries. DS Smith Print Solutions holds strong relationships with all its key customers and has an established trading history with each one.

MBM Print & Supply Chain Solutions was created by Thomas Montgomery, former head of Montgomery Litho Group, and two managers from DS Smith Print Solutions, account manager Stephen Black and production manager Bryan Munro. The team has over 75 years of combined experience in printing industry.

For the full press release please click here.

Oghma Partners LLP is pleased to announce its role as exclusive financial adviser to Cargill, in relation to the following transaction, which completed on 23 May 2014:

29 April 2014 – MANE and Cargill agree on the sale of Cargill’s compounds business, including a plant in Rubi, Spain.

A part of Cargill’s texturizing portfolio until now, the compounds business has specialized in blends of a wide variety of functional ingredients. It has developed an advanced position in the segment of technology compounds for the meat processing industry in Spain and other large meat markets in Europe. MANE has a strong position in the meat processing industry in France with its MEAT PRO operations and centre of excellence. This addition is complementing and strengthening MANE’s expertise in the domain to become a European leader in the sector. The sale of the compounds business is consistent with Cargill’s texturizing solutions business strategy of sharpening the focus on its core business, and as such, bring more value to its customers. The new entity will operate under the umbrella of MANE IBERICA. Terms of the agreement are not disclosed.

23 May 2014 – Cargill has completed the sale of its compounds business to Mane. All clearances have been received and the transaction has been closed on 23 May 2014.

For the full press release please click here.