The parent company of The Jersey Royal Company, Produce Investments, last week accepted a £52.9 million offer from April 1983 Bidco, a Jersey company owned and controlled by funds managed by private equity and venture capital firm Promethean Investments LLP.
‘This transaction will allow Produce Investments to move to a more suitable private market environment for a company of its size, thereby eliminating the regulatory burden, constraints and costs of maintaining a public listing,’ Produce Investment’s chief executive Angus Armstrong said.
The Jersey Royal Company was founded 20 years ago and has been part of Produce Investments group since 2014. It is the largest grower and exporter of the Island’s most significant agricultural crop and premier food brand, the Jersey Royal potato, sending around 20,000 tons to the British market each year.
The company farms 1,800 fields across the 12 parishes comprising 8,300 vergées annually and employs about 450 staff, mostly seasonal workers.
Produce Investments is a major producer of British potatoes and daffodils, with operations throughout the UK in seed production, growing and packing and serving a number of market sectors including retail, food service, wholesale and trading.
Other farming businesses within the group include Greenvale AP and Rowe Farming Ltd, which along with The Jersey Royal Company account for 82.3 per cent of the overall group revenues.
‘We are delighted to have been able to reach agreement with the Independent Committee of the Board of Produce Investments in relation to the proposed Offer,’ Michael Burt, managing partner of Promethean Investments said.
‘[It] represents an opportunity for Produce Investments shareholders to exit at a significant premium to the current market value of Produce Investments and which will allow Produce Investments to grow outside the constraints of the public market.’
