Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending (ACABL) has structured a funding facility to support the acquisition of Tillery Valley Foods by Joubere Food Group from Sodexo, the French food services and facilities management group.
The comprehensive ABL package comprised of a revolving invoice discounting line, plant and machinery loan and Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) facility.
Founded in 1984, Tillery Valley Foods produces and supplies nutritionally balanced meals to more than 120 hospitals and healthcare groups across the UK, as well as providing catering services to organisations and high-profile events.
The business employs more than 310 people at its five-acre manufacturing site in Abertillery, South Wales. Tillery Valley Foods has an in-house team of dietitians and offers a nationwide next-day delivery service all year round from its own distribution fleet.
Dorset-headquartered Joubere, backed by mid-market private equity firm Cable Capital Partners, introduced the transaction. Joubere manufactures and sells chilled and ambient soups, sauces, stocks and gravies to the retail and foodservice sectors.
Stephen Bolton, chairman of Joubere Food Group, said: “We have worked with various financiers in the past, and traditional banks are always very challenging in terms of the pace at which they operate and the degree of flexibility they provide.
“The attraction from Arbuthnot Commercial ABL was that we felt that they could deliver on these critical factors to the acquisition.
“Having presented them with the opportunity and what we were looking to finance, they were fast, flexible and responsive in terms of coming up with a creative solution that would meet our financing needs.”
He continued: “This acquisition, supported by Arbuthnot, has effectively trebled the size of the Group. We very much look forward to bringing together the expertise of both businesses, which from an operational standpoint, will broaden our ability to access new markets in addition to the new range of product capabilities we can now offer to our customers across healthcare, retail and foodservice.”
Andrew Rutherford, commercial director at Arbuthnot Commercial ABL, said: “This is an exciting and highly complementary acquisition that will act as a platform for Joubere to build a significant food group, both through organic growth and future bolt on acquisitions.
“Once again, speed, flexibility and supportiveness were integral to the successful completion of this transaction. We look forward to supporting the teams at both Joubere and Cable as they continue to drive growth.”
