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Premier Foods Stage: LBOs and Special Situations Year of Investment: March 2009 Web Site : http://www.premierfoods.co.uk
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Premier Foods plc is the UK’s largest food producer and manufactures some of Britain’s most popular food brands including Hovis bread, Mr Kipling cakes, Loyd Grossman sauces and Bisto gravy. The company, which is headquartered in St Albans, England, also manufactures products for the food service industry, as well as supplying ingredients to food producers and own-label products to the UK's major food retailers. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Since the investment by Warburg Pincus, the company has made a significant number of changes to the management team. 9 out of the top 11 managers have changed since 2009 and the Deputy Chairman of the company is Warburg Pincus’ board appointee Charles Miller-Smith (ex CEO of ICI and ex CFO of Unilever), who also serves as a senior advisor to Warburg Pincus in Europe. In March 2012, the company announced that it had reached a landmark refinancing package with its banks and pension schemes and as of December 2012 Premier completed the asset disposal programme originally agreed as part of the refinancing. Gavin Darby, former CEO of Cable & Wireless plc, joined Premier as CEO in February 2013 and is continuing the strategy of focussing on 8 “Power Brands”, improving sales and marketing execution, and further streamlining the cost structure following the recent disposals.
