Cracker firm to land Young’s for £200m

GRIMSBY-based frozen food giant Young’s Seafood could be netted for as much as £200 million after it emerged that the firm’s owners are in advanced sale talks.

Irish private equity firm CapVest, the owner of Jacob’s Cream Crackers, is the ‘preferred buyer’, City sources said. CapVest also owns honey maker Rowse and peas brand Batchelors.

Young’s was set up in 1805 by Elizabeth Young and her family, who worked on the Thames as fishermen.

The company started off selling whitebait and potted shrimp but became well known after inventing scampi in 1946.

The business is now owned by a group of other private equity firms, including Lion Capital and Bain, which put it on the market earlier this year.

CapVest is run by Irish dealmaker Seamus Fitzpatrick and specialises in giant food brands. It owns Valeo Foods, a huge European conglomerate that it has built up over the past few years.

The buyout shop’s other food investments include Yorkshire-based pork producer Karro Food Group, which it bought last year for £180 million.

Some sources suggested that CapVest is likely to combine Young’s Seafood with Karro.

Previous reports suggested other potential buyers for the fish finger maker have included Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation and UK Fisheries.

CapVest and Bain declined to comment.