Private equity company Duke Street Capital has been outed as the mystery bidder for Uniq after it emerged that the company has been steadily building up a stake in Uniq in recent weeks.
A spokesman for the VC firm, which has no food interests, but stakes in a range of UK companies from Focus Wickes to Thornbury Nursing Services, said: “We like the food industry and we see value in our investment going forward.”
His comments came as Uniq’s board confirmed it was considering a revised takeover approach after rejecting earlier offers last week. The other
bidder is understood to be CapVest Equity Partners, part of American International Group.
Duke Street has been looking to make an acquisition in food for some time and is believed to have been working with former Geest MD Peter Macielinski.
A source close to the company said: “They see value in Uniq as it has been trading at a discount to the rest of the sector.” It is not clear what the exit strategy would be, although some analysts were predicting an eventual breakup.
Patrick Groarke, a partner at corporate finance house Livingstone Guarantee, said: “The value of the parts is probably worth more than the whole.”
However, it was not clear why Uniq had been targeted now given that it had effectively been on the market for the last three years, said one analyst.
“They might view it as a recovery story with all the restructuring going on under CEO Bill Ronald likely to bear fruit over the next year or so.”