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Paine & Partners Makes Strategic Investment In Meadow Foods

September 12, 2016

Paine & Partners Makes Strategic Investment In Meadow Foods

Meadow Foods, the UK’s largest independently owned dairy group and a leading supplier of milk and dairy ingredients to the food industry, has announced that it has completed a strategic investment with Paine & Partners, LLC (“Paine & Partners”), a leading global food and agribusiness investment firm. This strategic investment is to support Meadow Foods’ strategy to grow the business through organic expansion and acquisitions.

With this transaction, the Chantler family will remain a substantial shareholder, and there are no plans to change the Executive Management or the broad structure of the business. The Pickering family will exit as shareholders in Meadow Foods.

US-based Paine & Partners exclusively invests in food and agribusiness companies and has a team of 25 investment, operations and finance professionals focused on investing globally across the food and agribusiness value chain and throughout cycles.

Simon Chantler, executive chairman of Meadow Foods, commented: “This investment represents a new and exciting phase in the continued development of our business and will open new avenues of opportunity for all of our producer partners, customers and employees.”

Dexter Paine, Chairman, CEO and a founding partner of Paine & Partners, added: “In Meadow Foods, we are making a strategic investment in an industry leader that we believe is poised for continued growth. Meadow Foods’ experienced management team and employees have built a blue-chip customer base with a well-deserved reputation for innovation and reliable delivery of the highest-quality products. We see opportunities to drive growth both organically by increasing production, enhancing capabilities and expanding into new product lines and markets, and through strategic acquisitions that leverage the Company’s supply network and customer relationships. The two most important assets to a business are its people and reputation, and Meadow Foods is exceptional in both of these areas. We are very excited to work with the team to execute its strategy for growth.”

About Meadow Foods

Meadow Foods is the UK’s largest independently owned dairy group and leading supplier of milk based dairy ingredients to the food industry. Meadow Foods currently handles more than 500 million litres of milk each year direct from over 550 farmer suppliers from across the North of England, Midlands and North & West Wales. The company, founded in 1992, operates from factories in Chester, Peterborough and Holme-on-Spalding Moor and now employs more than 275 people.

About Paine & Partners

Paine & Partners is an investment firm that focuses on complex opportunities in the fastgrowing, dynamic global food and agribusiness sectors. Paine & Partners’ team includes 25 investment, operations and finance professionals focused on investing globally across the food and agribusiness value chain and throughout cycles. The firm currently invests through its $893 million Paine & Partners Fund IV, which is solely dedicated to agribusiness investing. For further information, see www.painepartners.com.

Meadow contact:

Louis Hill
The Source Partnership
Tel: 01829 720 789
Mob: 07788 928 191
Louis@thesourcepartnership.com

Paine & Partners contact:

Andy Brimmer / Aaron Palash
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
Tel: +1 212-355-4449