Glorious soup manufacturer sold to The Billington Group

Scunthorpe-based TSC Foods, which produces the Glorious! soup range, has been sold to Liverpool-headquartered The Billington Group.

The sale is an exit for Key Capital Partners and will see the producer of chilled and frozen sauces, soups, entrees and dressings, to family-owned Billington.

As part of the deal, TSC will continue trading as normal with all 400 employees remaining at its North Lincolnshire base. In July 2009, KCP backed the management buyout of the business in a deal that valued the company at £17m. S

Since then the company has increased turnover by almost 50% to justunder £50 million in the year to December 2013. The sale will provide KCP with a 3.5x return on investment.

Peter Armitage, investment partner at KCP and director of TSC Foods, said: “TSC has shown impressive growth in both sales and profitability over the last few years. The management team has continued toinvest in the production side of the business and developing the Glorious! brand in order to satisfy the demands of its growing customer base.

“Although it has been a pleasure working with a first-class management team it is the perfect time for us to be handing over to The Billington Group. We know thecompany will be in good hands.”

David Bondi, managing director at TSC Foods, said: “Working with KCP has been a really good experience for TSC and the management team. KCP’s support has enabled us to provide all the resources needed to grow the business through innovation, service and quality, along with developing the Glorious! brand rapidly in a challenging market. We are looking forward to working with The Billington Group which is an excellent fit for TSC in every way.”

Christian Mayo, Giles Taylor and James Murray at KPMG (Leeds) provided corporate finance advice to the company, while Sean FitzGerald and VictoriaZivkovic at Linder Myers (Manchester) provided legal advice to KCP. Will Oxley and Andrew Baldwin of Grant Thornton in Leeds provided vendor due diligence.

Giles Taylor of KPMG commented: “The interest generated in TSC from private equity and trade buyers is testament to the business’s position at the forefront of chilled and frozen food product development.

“Market consolidation is driving food and drink sector activity, particularly among independent manufacturers which have a strong presence across the North of England and we expect this trend to continue well throughout 2014.”

Hill Dickinson provided legal advice to Edward Billington and Son, and Grant Thornton provided corporate finance advice and tax advice to the company, while Barclays Corporate Banking in Liverpool provided financial facilities to support Edward Billington and Son in this acquisition.