Carlyle supported graze’s international expansion

London – Global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced it has agreed to sell graze, the UK’s largest healthy snack brand, to Unilever.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

Carlyle acquired graze in November 2012 through Carlyle Europe Technology Partners II (CETP II).  During Carlyle’s ownership, graze experienced strong growth in its delivery service, as well as expansion into retail stores in the UK and US, with products being stocked in Sainsbury’s, Boots, Costco and Target.

Founded in 2008, graze’s purpose is to put excitement into healthy snacking, providing a range of snacking nuts, seeds, trail mixes and snack bars, with no artificial ingredients. Having started with a snack box delivery service, graze is now a multichannel brand, with products available via retail stores, ecommerce and direct to consumer. 

Fernando Chueca, Managing Director on the CETP advisory team said: “It has been a delight to support graze with its international expansion, and development into the largest multi-channel brand in the healthy snacking sector.  We wish graze and Unilever continued success.”

Anthony Fletcher, graze CEO said: “This deal marks a transformational moment in graze’s growth journey. graze believes that learning from Unilever’s sustainable living plan will become a key driver for the business.”

“graze has an incredibly exciting future ahead as part of Unilever and we look forward to working closely with the team to keep on inventing new healthy snacks, as well as continuing to work to understand the role technology can play in improving the food industry. We thank Carlyle for all the support it has lent to graze on our journey.”

Nitin Paranjpe, President of Unilever’s Food & Refreshment business said: “graze is the number one healthy snacking brand in the UK – delivering consumers fabulously tasty snacking options, delivered in beautiful packaging. A truly multichannel brand, graze offers personalisation, convenience and great nutrition, brilliantly meeting the needs of millennial consumers.”

“Accelerating our presence in healthy foods and out of home this is an excellent strategic fit for the Unilever Food & Refreshment business, and a wonderful addition to our stable of purpose driven brands.  We look forward to working with the graze team to grow the business, leveraging their tech and ecommerce expertise for our wider portfolio, and offering more consumers the opportunity to snack in a healthier way.”

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About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with $212 billion of assets under management across 339 investment vehicles as of September 30, 2018. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,625 people in 31 offices across six continents.

Web: www.carlyle.com 
Videos: www.youtube.com/onecarlyle  
Tweets: www.twitter.com/onecarlyle   
Podcasts: www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/market-commentary

About graze

graze, the UK’s largest healthy snacking brand, has been helping consumers reimagine how snacking can fuel their busy lives over the last ten years.

With an innovative tech-led multichannel model operating direct-to-consumers, online and via retail, the business has access to unique data enabling it to pioneer innovation, as well as maintaining relationships with its most loyal customers.

Graze is present in over 30,000 top retailers across the UK, as well as national US retailers such as Target, Walgreens and 7Eleven.

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a day. It has 161,000 employees and generated sales of €53.7 billion in 2017. Over half (57%) of the company’s footprint is in developing and emerging markets. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes all over the world, including Persil, Dove, Knorr, Domestos, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Wall’s, PG Tips, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Lynx.

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) underpins the company’s strategy and commits to:

• Helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being by 2020.
• Halving the environmental impact of our products by 2030.
• Enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020.

The USLP creates value by driving growth and trust, eliminating costs and reducing risks. The company’s sustainable living brands are growing 46% faster than the rest of the business and delivered 70% of the company’s growth in 2017.

Unilever was ranked as an industry leader in the 2018 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In the FTSE4Good Index, it achieved the highest environmental score of 5. It led the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the 2017 GlobeScan/SustainAbility annual survey for the seventh year running, and achieved four A ratings across Climate Change, Water, Forests and Supplier Engagement in CDP’s 2018 Global Supply Chain report. Unilever has pledged to become carbon positive in its operations by 2030, and to ensure 100% of its plastic packaging is fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.

For more information on the USLP: www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/

Media Contacts:

The Carlyle Group

Catherine Armstrong
Catherine.Armstrong@carlyle.com
+44 20 7894 1632

graze

graze@instinctif.com

Unilever

Frida Critien
+44 (0) 7824 089 836
Press-Office.London@unilever.com

1 February 2019 – Seafood investor Broodstock Capital invests in Norwegian marine
health player Åkerblå. The objective is to strengthen the service offering and increase
customer benefit through further investments in knowledge, expertise and increased
R&D focus, as well as ramping up Åkerblå’s international efforts.
Åkerblå was established in 1991 under the name Havbrukstjenesten. The company
subsequently rebranded to Åkerblå in 2014. It provides consulting and certification services
within fish health, environment and technical operations, primarily for fish farming
companies. Åkerblå also provides services to operators of wellboats and service vessels,
pharmaceutical companies, institutions within research and education, as well as public
sector bodies.

Åkerblå is the only company in the world with accreditation status for control of fish
health, and the only player in Norway with accreditation status for both fish health control,
environmental surveys and technical services.
“Åkerblå has a highly competent team that has succeeded with its strategy of establishing a
local presence close to its customers. The company has grown steadily, year after year, and
we are proud to become a co-owner. Broodstock Capital’s strategy is to invest in market
leaders within niches of the supply chain to the seafood industry, and to own and develop
businesses in partnership with founders, management and existing owners. The Åkerblå
investment represents the core of Broodstock Capital’s investment strategy,” says Simen
Landmark, partner at Broodstock Capital.
Today’s owners remain
Åkerblå employs approximately 85 people across 13 regional offices along the Norwegian
coast, with its headquarters at Frøya in Trøndelag, Norway. In 2018, the company had
revenues of approximately NOK 100 million and delivered a positive operating profit margin
in line with previous years.

Broodstock Capital’s investment consists of a combination of acquisition of shares and an
equity injection to contribute to further development and growth of Åkerblå, both in
Norway and Internationally. Current owners and Broodstock Capital have in total made NOK
20 million in new capital available to Åkerblå.
Following completion of the transaction, Broodstock Capital will own half of the company.
Current owners Arild Kjerstad, Asgeir Østvik and Roger Sørensen will own the other half.
Roger Sørensen continues in his role as CEO of the company.
“Broodstock Capital contributes with both expertise and capital. This gives us the
opportunity to invest even more in competence, R&D and system improvements that will
benefit our customers. Amongst other things, we want do digitalise even more of our
services, which will make our clients’ data even more accessible to them,” says Roger
Sørensen, CEO of Åkerblå.
Sørensen also refers to the fact that the company recently established a dedicated R&D
department to become an even more attractive cooperation partner for the industry,
universities and research institutions.
“We will ramp up our commitment to further developing our highly skilled professionals,
both through competence-enhancing measures and development of new technology within
all our service areas,” Roger Sørensen adds.
Targets international growth

Today, the majority of Åkerblå’s business is related to the Norwegian aquaculture industry.
Outside Norway, the company has operations in Iceland, Canada and Spain. As new owners
enter the company, the ambition is to increase its international presence.
“Åkerblå’s competence and systems are transferable to other aquaculture markets. Our
ambition is to develop the world’s leading competence hub for knowledge-based marine
health services. Broodstock Capital has significant international activity through our
portfolio companies. We anticipate that Åkerblå will capitalise on this network to fast-track
entry into new markets and further strengthen its position in countries already present,”
says Håkon Aglen Fredriksen, partner at Broodstock Capital.
Broodstock Capital’s Håkon Aglen Fredriksen and Simen Landmark will join the Åkerblå
board of directors. Pål Kristian Moe, partner of Trondheim-based advisory firm Impello
Management becomes chairman of the board, while Arild Kjerstad and Asgeir Østvik
continues as members of the board of directors.
Broodstock Capitals funds focus exclusively on investments in small and medium sized
businesses within the seafood industry in general and in the fish supplier industry
specifically. In addition to its investment in Åkerblå, Broodstock Capital has invested in net
cleaning robot supplier MPI – Multi Pump Innovation, RAS system supplier Billund
Aquaculture AS, seafood software company Maritech Systems AS, and water treatment
company NP Innovation AB.

For further information, please contact:
Simen Landmark, partner at Broodstock Capital, tel: +47 45 22 46 48, e-mail: slb@broodstock.no
Håkon Aglen Fredriksen, partner at Broodstock Capital, tel: +47 90 13 01 85, e-mail: haf@broodstock.no
Roger Sørensen, CEO of Åkerblå, tel: +47 91 53 71 23, e-mail: roger.sorensen@akerbla.no

Significant minority investment in partnership with founder and CEO Junior Durski will support new restaurant growth and continued investment in the company’s operations

New York, NY and São Paulo, BR – Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced that it has agreed to make a significant minority investment in Grupo Madero (“Madero”), the largest casual dining and fast-casual restaurant chain in Brazil.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2005, Madero operates 140 restaurants primarily across three restaurant brands: Madero Steakhouse, Madero Container and Jeronimo. Madero Steakhouse is a casual dining concept with table service and an expansive menu headlined by “the best burger in the world,” while Madero Container and Jeronimo are fast-casual concepts with high-quality, hamburger-focused menus. Madero is able to maximize quality, service and efficiency by leveraging its technology-enabled platform and vertically-integrated business model, the foundation of which is its state-of-the-art central kitchen in Ponta Grossa.

“We are thrilled to partner with Carlyle – a firm which combines experience investing in restaurants around the world with a deep understanding of the Brazilian retail market, which will be a valuable resource as we execute on our growth strategy,” said Junior Durski, Madero’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer.  “Carlyle understands our vision for Madero and values our unique culture and dedication to our customers, employees, and local communities.  We have set ambitious goals, and we are excited that Carlyle will be our partner for the next stage of our journey.”

Jay Sammons, Managing Director and Carlyle’s Global Head of Consumer & Retail, said, “Madero has built a differentiated brand and business model, utilizing consumer-oriented technology and leveraging the company’s best-in-class operations to serve great food to millions of satisfied customers across Brazil. We are excited to apply our significant restaurant and consumer expertise to support Junior and Madero’s leadership team as they execute on the company’s plans for future growth.”

Fernando Borges, Managing Director and Head of Carlyle’s South America Buyout Group, said, “Junior and his team have done an exceptional job building Madero into one of the pre-eminent restaurant brands in Brazil.  We are fully aligned on the growth plan that Junior and the management team are pursuing, and we are enthusiastic about the opportunities ahead.”

Equity from this transaction will come from Carlyle Partners VII, an $18.5 billion fund that makes strategic majority and minority investments across five industries.  Carlyle has extensive experience investing in the restaurant space and in Brazil, including past investments in Dunkin’ Brands (franchisor of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins), Chimney (pub-style restaurant chain in Japan), Alamar Foods (franchisee of Wendy’s and Domino’s Pizza restaurants in the Middle East), Gastronomía & Negocios S.A. (largest franchisor of quick service restaurants in Chile), Babela Group (Italian dining restaurant chain in China), CVC Brasil Operadora e Agência de Viagens S.A. (tour operator in Brazil), Tok&Stok (one of the largest design, furniture and decoration retailers in Brazil), Ri Happy (one of the largest specialty retailers of toys in Brazil) and Rede D’Or (largest hospital network in Brazil), among others.  Carlyle has invested more than $2.5 billion in Brazilian-based companies over the past 10 years, and the investment in Madero reflects the firm’s long-term commitment to supporting companies in the region.

The transaction remains subject to anti-trust review.

Pinheiro Neto and Debevoise & Plimpton served as counsel to Carlyle, and Santander served as financial advisor to Carlyle. Grupo Madero was advised by Machado Meyer Advogados.

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About Grupo Madero

Madero, the leading casual and fast-casual dining restaurant chain in Brazil, was founded in 2005 by Junior Durski, a self-taught chef who opened his first restaurant in 1999. The company operates 140 restaurants under three principal banners: Madero Steakhouse, Madero Container and Jeronimo. Madero Steakhouse is the company’s original casual dining format developed in 2005 and is one of the largest casual dining banners in Brazil.  Madero Container is a fast-casual format developed in 2014, which offers a burger-focused subset of Madero Steakhouse’s menu. Jeronimo is the company’s newest fast-casual concept which was launched in 2017 and offers a high-quality, burger-focused menu.  Madero’s vertically-integrated business model, which includes a state-of-the-art central kitchen and full logistics capabilities, including an owned fleet of temperature-controlled trucks, enables the company to focus on providing high-quality food at affordable prices across every major region in Brazil. The company employs approximately 6,000 people.

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $212 billion of assets under management across 339 investment vehicles as of September 30, 2018. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,625 people in 31 offices across six continents.

Media Contacts

The Carlyle Group:

Devin Broda
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
+1 (212) 687-8080
Carlyle-SVC@sardverb.com

Fish and seafood specialist Fiskeboa is acquired by Johan i Hallen and Bergfalk, which formed the JOHBECO group together with their main shareholder Litorina last summer. The group has a strong market position in Stockholm and Gothenburg, and this latest acquisition will allow it to offer a broader and more attractive range on the west coast, with coverage also across the rest of the country.

The acquisition means that Johan i Hallen will be able to offer a broad range of high-quality fish and seafood as part of its usual range. For its customers, most of whom are in the restaurant and hotel sector, this deal will also make things considerably more efficient, since all meat, charcuterie, fish and seafood orders can now be made from one and the same supplier.

“This will strengthen our position as a supplier of meat and fish, and above all, it will improve our customers’ access to a wide and high-quality offering. This applies not only to those who have always chosen to turn to us, but also to those who are customers of Fiskeboa,” says Johan Andersson, Johan i Hallen.

“Thanks to Bergfalk’s and Johan i Hallen’s purchasing channels, our customers will gain a partially new and more exclusive product range that we could not otherwise have achieved. In addition, with Johan i Hallen we will be able to reach a wider circle of customers, even beyond Gothenburg. This merger will strengthen Fiskeboa, but to a great extent also Johan i Hallen and Bergfalk,” says Martin Petersson, CEO of Fiskeboa.

“Bergfalk has a long history within fish and seafood sales, but has lacked proximity to fishermen and auctions on the west coast. Together with Fiskeboa we will be able to benefit from each other’s know-how and channels. Fiskeboa is a supplier with high quality and service ambitions, something they share with the rest of the group. After the partnership between Johan i Hallen and Bergfalk, Fiskeboa strengthens our intention to become the Nordic Region’s best perishables specialist,” says Lars Bengtsson, CEO of JOHBECO.

For further information, please contact:
Lars Bengtsson +46 70 523 30 02, CEO of JOHBECO
Johan Andersson +46 70 884 44 04, Johan i Hallen
Martin Petersson +46 70 592 42 77, CEO of Fiskeboa