Anacacia exits Rafferty's to PZ Cussons for 10x return - Update

The exit comes after a proposed sale to H.J. Heinz was blocked by the Australian authorities on anti-monopoly grounds.

"Rafferty's is a classic Anacacia style investment. We originated it with a cold call following industry based research into the healthy food segment," said Jeremy Samuel, managing director at Anacacia. "We spent many months doing exclusive due diligence such that we hit the ground running when invested on strategy development and execution."

Rafferty's is Australia's second-largest baby-food business, claiming a 40% share of the wet infant food segment. It is also in the early stages of developing export channels into Indonesia and Thailand, an area in which access to PZ Cussons' larger distribution platform is expected to be beneficial.

Revenue and EBITDA for the year ended June 2012 were GBP22.5 million and GBP3.5 million, respectively.

Heinz is the market leader for baby food in Australia with more than 40% in each of the wet and dry segments, while no industry participant apart from Rafferty's commands above 10%. It was with this in mind that the Australian Competition and Consumer Association, nixed the earlier deal, saying it could lead to reduced promotions, increased prices and less product innovation.

Anacacia completed the buyout of Rafferty's in 2010 alongside SalesLink Australasia, investing via its A$50 million ($51 million) debut fund.

PZ Cussons has a market capitalization of GBP1.5 billion with operations spanning personal care, homecare, electrical goods and food and nutrition in Europe, Asia and Africa. Its best known brands in Australia include Morning Fresh, Radiant, Duo, Imperial Leather and St Tropez.

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• Topics
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