Established in 1930 as an independent family business, Cardowan supplies over 20,000 metric tonnes annually to manufacturers and wholesalers across the UK and internationally. It has built a reputation for developing forward-thinking methods to create some of the best bakery products in the world that are also vegan and RSPO certified.
“As a longstanding family business with a rich heritage, it was crucial to find the right home for Cardowan – we have found this in KTC, who are an excellent cultural and business fit,” said John Kyle chairman and owner of Cardowan.
“This deal represents an exciting opportunity to accelerate Cardowan’s strategic growth plans and is a compelling addition to KTC.”
Like-minded
Wednesday-based KTC Edibles – founded in 1971 – is one of the UK’s largest cooking and speciality oils producers in the UK, accredited by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
Following the acquisition, KTC plans to build on the well-invested platform laid down by the Kyle family with continuing capital investment in the Glasgow site to further increase capacity and drive sales growth.
The bolt-on will take the combined turnover of the KTC Group to over £550m and further strengthens KTC’s value-added processing capabilities and product offering.
“We are excited by the opportunities that Cardowan brings to KTC to expand our offering and to service all our customers,” said Paresh Mehta, CEO of KTC.
“I would like to thank John Kyle and Lesley McGhee for their support throughout the process and congratulate them on building a world-class business. We recognise the importance of the company’s heritage and production methods that have been nurtured for almost a century, and we look forward to welcoming the Cardowan team into the KTC family.”
Inaugurating the growth journey
KTC is an Endless portfolio company, acquired by the UK PE firm in May 2022. Endless manages its Fund V of $400m, looking to support buyouts, non-core acquisitions from larger groups, transformations and financial restructurings.
Added Aidan Robson, partner at Endless LLP, “We are delighted to be supporting KTC with its acquisition of Cardowan and hope this is the first of many acquisitions KTC will be undertaking over the coming years.
“Cardowan will help grow the sales and volume of the group, as well as broadening the offering to all existing KTC customers.”
KTC was advised by Eversheds Sutherland (legal), KPMG (financial due diligence) and Interpath Advisory (tax).
Cardowan was advised by PwC (corporate finance) and Shepherd and Wedderburn (Legal).
