Capvest buys leading Dutch coffee processor

Capvest, the private equity firm which last year raised €50 million from Irish backers, has bought one of Europe's leading coffee processors.

Capvest said yesterday that it has bought Netherlands-based Drie Mollen from its owners, Gilde Buyout Partners and AAC Capital Partners.

Drie Mollen had a turnover last year of €300 million. Neither side revealed the purchase price, but Capvest generally focuses on acquisitions valued at between €100 million and €500 million.

Gilde and AAC bought the business in 2002 and have built it through organic growth and acquisition to become one of the continent's leading speciality coffee roasters.

Since then, its owners have merged it with Swiss players Gigur and Merkur and UK-based First Choice Coffee. It processed more than 50,000 tonnes last year. It has a presence across Europe and employs 900 staff.

Capvest Equity Partners last year raised €50 million from Irish investors as part of an overall €500 million fund, which it intended using to back debt/equity purchases. The company subsequently bought the Mater Private Hospital in a €350 million deal backed by AIB.

Irishman Séamus FitzPatrick, chairs Capvest, which he co-founded with US colleague Randy Shure in 1999.

It is firmly established as a mid-market European private equity house, with assets of more than €2.5 billion under its management. Its latest purchase will join a stable that includes well-known brands such as Youngs and Findus, the seafood processors, as well as businesses across northern Europe, Scandinavia and Britain.

Capvest specialises in buying established businesses with good revenues and strong cashflows, and working with management to grow them organically and through buying other players in their sectors.

One of the areas on which it focuses is food and drink, as businesses in these industries match the criteria that Capvest has laid down for its investments.

Capvest's deals are normally leveraged buyouts, which means that they are done with a combination of investors' equity and bank borrowings.

Commenting on the Drie Mollen deal yesterday, Capvest partner Christopher Campbell said the company represented a "compelling opportunity" to invest in a market leader in its sector. "We believe there is strong potential to accelerate growth through investment in innovation and the pursuit of value-enhancing acquisitions," he said.