Darwin Buys UK Organic Food Company Plum Baby For GBP10 Million

Darwin Private Equity said Tuesday it has bought Plum Baby Foods for GBP10 million, marking the London-based buyout firm's third acquisition since launching in 2007.

Plum Foods sells organic products through retailers and supermarket chains including Boots Alliance, Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) and J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN). It expects annual revenue of GBP15 million in 2010.

"Plum is a very strong brand--we believe Plum has significant growth potential and plan to invest heavily in the business to build upon its market position," said Darwin partner Jonathan Kaye.

Founder Susie Willis will remain in the business as creative director, while Chief Executive Patrick Cairns is stepping down and will be replaced by former Dairy Crest Group PLC (DCG.LN) and HJ Heinz UK (HNZ) manager Paul Kaye.

Existing investors in the business including Beringea, Octopus and Foresight are selling their interests.

Darwin was founded by former executives from Permira and CVC Capital Partners and is currently investing out of its initial fund, which has commitments of GBP217 million from investors such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and private equity fund of funds Pantheon Ventures. It invests in U.K. businesses with enterprise values of between GBP10 million and GBP100 million.

It has already bought sports nutrition business Maximuscle and Bromford Industries, which makes components for the aerospace industry.

-By Marietta Cauchi, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9241; marietta.cauchi@dowjones.com

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024