Gresham Trust and KPMG support healthy snacking habit. £15m buy-out for Whitworths

Whitworths, the UK's largest supplier of dried fruits and nuts, has been bought by its management in a £15m deal. The Whitworth managers were advised by KPMG Corporate Finance's private equity team, with equity backing provided by Gresham Trust, the private equity house, and senior debt from Bank of Scotland's Midlands Structured Finance team.

Whitworths, which was founded near Wellingborough over a century ago, is the dominant UK supplier of dried fruit, nuts, cereals and pulses to the grocery and food ingredients sectors. The company employs 550.

The new management team is headed by David Pratt, chief executive officer, with Gary Vicary as finance director.

Chief executive David Pratt says, "The buyout is the culmination of a year of intense activity at Whitworths that has seen a renewed emphasis on our core skills of sourcing, packing and adding value in the dried fruit and nut sector. Innovative product development and a strong commitment to customer service have become the hallmarks of the new Whitworths."

"We are already making excellent progress in the product innovation that will drive top line growth for the business in the future. With our new financial structure, we will be able to make capital investments in technology, production methods and brands to underpin that development."

Peter Naylor of Gresham Trust's Birmingham office says, "New markets which deliver higher margins and significant growth opportunities, such as fruit snacking, are opening up. We believe Whitworths has excellent growth opportunities."

The buyout has restructured the group's balance sheet and will enable the management team to concentrate on accelerating the progress achieved in improving performance since it refocused the business on core skills and expanding markets in April 2000.

Stephen Craik, head of KPMG's Corporate Finance private equity team, comments, "The management team has been hugely successful in repositioning the business in its market place. It is well placed to capitalise on future opportunities through organic growth and acquisition."

Bill Mustoe, chairman of Cott Beverages and the Brand Partnership, and formerly with the Campbell Soup Company, will join the company as non-executive chairman.

This transaction is the latest of six deals which Gresham has completed since it opened its Birmingham office 20 months ago.