July 24, 2008

Foodvest, one of Europe's largest food and seafood firm, has been acquired by private equity house Lion Capital.

Foodvest, which is acquired with funds advised by CapVest, is the parent company of Young's Seafood and The Seafood Company in the UK, and Findus in France, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Foodvest is a major European food group with operations in the UK, Scandinavia, France and a growing presence in Central and Eastern Europe. The company has 20 facilities in 5 countries and in 2007 generated over GBP 1 billion (US$2 billion) of turnover.
 

In the UK Young's is the leading branded producer and distributor of seafood - both chilled and frozen - in retail and foodservice channels. Findus is the leading, branded frozen food manufacturer in Scandinavia, with market leadership in Sweden, Norway and Finland within each of the frozen ready meals, fish and vegetables segments in which it operates.

Findus also has a strong presence in France, where it has the strongest brand recognition of any frozen food brand. The Seafood Company is a leader in the production of chilled, private-label seafood products in the UK, selling to all of the major UK multiples. It is the EU's biggest processor of farmed Atlantic salmon.