Equistone-backed Mademoiselle Desserts announces acquisition of Ministry of Cake

Mademoiselle Desserts (“the Group”), a French leader in the frozen pastries industry backed by Equistone Partners Europe since 2013, has announced its acquisition of Ministry of Cake (“the Company”), a leading UK-based producer of cakes, puddings and desserts.

Following its acquisition of Ministry of Cake, which has 400 employees working at two production facilities, Mademoiselle Desserts employs more than 1,400 people across nine production sites, comprising four in France, one in the Netherlands and now four in the UK. The restaurant and café chains supplied by Ministry of Cake in the UK and on the continent, including Starbucks, will join Mademoiselle Desserts’ client base of major French and UK retailers and food & beverage outlets, which include Carrefour, Leclerc, Marks & Spencer, Picard, Brioche Dorée, Pomona and Brake. With Ministry of Cake delivering year-on-year growth of 12%, the acquisition increases the Group’s annual revenues to €210m, 45% of which are now generated by international sales.

Mademoiselle Desserts is actively pursuing its external growth strategy, having made two acquisitions in the past three months. Following the UK acquisitions of Speciality Desserts (renamed Mademoiselle Desserts Corby) in 2012 and Hand Made Cake Company in 2014 and the acquisition of Netherlands-based Quality Pastries in October 2016, the Group is consolidating its position as a major player in Europe by extending its market-leading position in France and establishing market leadership in the UK. The acquisition of Ministry of Cake also offers the Group an opportunity to diversify its international clientele and to offer a comprehensive product line in the out-of-home dining segment.

While being consolidated into Mademoiselle Desserts and benefiting from the Group's resources and synergies, Ministry of Cake will remain autonomous. The Company’s management, which has taken an equity stake in Mademoiselle Desserts through the transaction, will remain in place to oversee its development. Gérard Verdino, Executive Chairman of Mademoiselle Desserts UK, will coordinate the business of the Group's three UK-based companies.

Thierry Lardinois, Partner at Equistone Partners Europe, said: “This new acquisition is another step forward in the international development strategy of Mademoiselle Desserts, which has experienced rapid growth since 2013. The Group can now take advantage of Ministry of Cake’s complementary products and leverage its powerful sales force across Europe.”

Didier Boudy, CEO of Mademoiselle Desserts Group, commented: “Ministry of Cake is the perfect addition to our organisation in the UK. With two new industrial sites, together with the Group's previous two British sites, Handmade Cake Company in Maidenhead and Mademoiselle Desserts in Corby, we now boast first-rate industrial facilities that are entirely dedicated to our out-of-home dining clients.”

Chris Ormrod, Managing Director at Ministry of Cake, added: “I am delighted to join Mademoiselle Desserts. We are pursuing ambitious growth targets, particularly for international development. In this regard we wanted to work with a Group that shares this drive and that could help us accelerate our growth. As a financially sound, international Group with an extremely wide range of top-quality products that complement our own offering, Mademoiselle Desserts is clearly the best choice.”

Parties involved

• Equistone: Guillaume Jacqueau, Arnaud Thomas, Thierry Lardinois
• Mademoiselle Desserts: Didier Boudy (CEO), Hervé Jean-Pierre (CFO) and Gérard Verdino
• Ministry of Cake : Chris Ormrod (MD) and Jeremy French (CFO)

Buyside advisors

• M&A : Grant Thornton CF - Treffor Griffith
• Legal Due Diligence: Roxburgh Milkins - Richard Hopkins
• Financial and Tax Due Diligence: Grant Thornton - John Panteli
• Structuration : Goodwin – Thomas Maitrejean, Benjamin Garçon, Sabrina Savornin
• Financing / Unitranche : Ardian avec Guillaume Chinardet, Grégory Pernot, Gabrielle Philip