Charles Russell Speechlys advises Entrepreneurial Food Group on the sale of two food production businesses to The Compleat Food Group

Charles Russell Speechlys has advised US corporate, Entrepreneurial Food Group LLC, on the sale of two UK food production businesses, Zorba Foods and SK Chilled Foods, to The Compleat Food Group. 

Zorba and SK are category leaders in private label chilled party foods, dips and deli fillings, with a combined turnover of over £160m and over 1,150 employees across the NE of England and Wales. The Compleat Food Group, itself a leading food manufacturer and home to brands such as Pork Farms, Wall’s Pastry, unearthed, Vadasz, Squeaky Bean, Wrights and Palace Culture, is backed by the private equity house PAI Partners and on a journey to become the UK’s number one chilled prepared food company. 

Entrepreneurial and the target businesses had been long-standing clients of Charles Russell Speechlys, with us previously having provided corporate, litigation and banking & finance support amongst other things. Entrepreneurial itself is the vehicle of a well-known US businessman and the transaction is another example of Charles Russell Speechlys' expertise advising on transactions in the private capital space, as well as in the F&B sector.

Doug Reinhardt, Entrepreneurial Food Group, commented:

“During our recent sale to Compleat, the team at Charles Russell Speechlys provided first class representation and counsel. They were diligent, responsive and had all the resources necessary to address complex issues as they arose to keep the deal on track. We simply could not have done it without them.”

Jeremy Faulkner, CEO of both SK Foods and Zorba, commented:

“Charles Russell Speechlys have been longstanding advisors to the businesses and provided invaluable support and expertise throughout the deal process. The Charles Russell Speechlys team worked extremely well with our teams and the conclusion sees both SK and Zorba move forward with optimism as part of large and highly regarded UK food operator.”

Hamish Perry, Corporate Partner, commented:

“We were delighted to have been able to advise on this transaction for Entrepreneurial Food Group and to help EFG and management transition ownership of SK and Zorba to Compleat and to allow the companies to join Compleat on its journey to be UK leaders. The EFG, SK and Zorba teams were a pleasure to deal with and we were glad we could support both owners and targets drawing on our full-service offering.”

The team was led by Corporate Partner, Hamish Perry, with support from Senior Associate, Nathan Lightman. The wider team included Caroline Young, Edith Lai, Helen Coward, Tessa Newman, Will Harwood, Anna Schwarze, Ciara Coyle, and Isobel Asti.