FDBusiness.com

West Cornwall Pasty Co, the UK food-to-go specialist, has been sold to Samworth Brothers, the convenience food group, for an undisclosed sum by Enact, the private equity business. West Cornwall Pasty Co, which operates across a wide range of travel and high street locations and has flagship trading partners such as Moto and the RFU, has been sold following its successful turnaround over the last two and half years.

West Cornwall Pasty Co was the first investment made by the Enact Fund in April 2014. Since that time the management team, led by executive chairman Chris Peck, have taken the business from strength to strength – quadrupling profitability, extending the product offering and undertaking a major overhaul of the brand. This exit marks the first realisation by the Enact Fund and delivers a 5.5x return to investors.

Chris Cormack, investment director at Enact, says: “Having been involved since our initial investment in West Cornwall Pasty Co we are delighted to have seen the transformation and growth of the business that has seen us exit to Samworth Brothers. We are incredibly proud of the work that has been done, initially to ensure the stability of the company in 2014, and since then to create a thriving business, capable of great things in the future. Chris Peck, Tony Keating and Leigh Dale have been an excellent management team that we have greatly enjoyed working with and we wish them all the best for the future.”

Richard Armitage, chief financial officer of Samworth Brothers, says: “We are delighted to be able to bring the West Cornwall Pasty Co into the Samworth Brothers family of companies. We are able to offer many opportunities for the future growth of the business and an exciting future for our new colleagues.  Enact has done a great job of nurturing the business since 2014 and we are confident of being able to continue their good work.”