Soup Glorious! soup served up to new owner for £35m

The company behind Glorious!, Scunthorpe-based TSC Foods, was sold by private equity firm Key Capital Partners (KCP) for an undisclosed sum.

The deal is thought to be worth around £35m.

TSC Foods produces and supplies high quality chilled and frozen sauces, soups, entrees and dressings to the retail and food service markets.

The business’s biggest success has come through its development of the Glorious! soup range, which is sold in Morrisons, Asda and Sainsbury’s supermarkets, as well as the Co-op and Ocado.

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. Since then the company has increased turnover by almost 50 per cent to just under £50m in the year to December 2013.

The sale will provide KCP with a 3.5 times return on investment.

David Bondi, managing director at TSC Foods, said: “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.”

Peter Armitage, investment partner at KCP and director at TSC, said: “TSC has shown impressive growth in both sales and profitability over the last few years.”

Christian Mayo, Giles Taylor and James Murray at KPMG (Leeds) provided corporate finance advice to the company, while Sean FitzGerald and Victoria Zivkovic 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, said: “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.”