CVC Capital snaps up Munchy

KUALA LUMPUR: Private equity and investment advisory firm CVC Capital Partners Asia Fund IV has acquired 100% of Munchy Food Industries Sdn Bhd and its Malaysian subsidiary Munchworld Marketing Sdn Bhd.

There was no mention of the acquisition value, but earlier reports indicated that the deal could fetch RM1.1 billion.

Munchy said in a statement yesterday that the corporate exercise was completed on June 8.

Prior to the acquisition, Double-V Series Sdn Bhd held a 70% stake in Munchy, while the remaining 30% was owned by fund investor TAP Crunch Sdn Bhd. Double-V Series is the holding company owned by Munchy’s founders.

Munchy said its management team, personnel and business operating system have been fully retained despite the change in ownership. The group is led by CEO Rodney Wong and COO Rajan Pillai.

Founded in 1991, Munchy has been involved in the biscuit and confectionery business for more than 25 years. It has a distribution network covering more than 50 countries. According to Nielsen, its products had a 21.5% share of Peninsular Malaysia’s RM1.04 billion biscuit market in 2017.

Munchy co-founder L.K. Tan said there had been many offers from potential investors in the past, but CVC’s vision for the brand aligned extremely well with its identity.

“Their global network and experience will be invaluable in growing the Munchy’s brand into a global name – with new markets, new technology and new innovations. We are excited to see CVC take the Munchy story into the next phase, becoming a global powerhouse.”

CVC Capital manages over US$70 billion (RM280 billion) of assets currently and has secured commitments of over US$110 billion from some of the world’s top institutional investors.