Geldards advise on 13m GBP Pasta King MBI

Geldards have advised on the 13m GBP management buy in (MBI) which will see the introduction of an experienced management team into Newton Abbot based Pasta King (UK) Ltd.

NBGI Private Equity Ltd (NBGIPE) is providing the funding for the company’s development which sees Howard Farquhar and Michael Cole introduced into the business as Managing Director and Chairman respectively.

Founded in 1992 Pasta King provides meal solutions comprising mostly pasta with fresh sauces. The meals are served hot from “pasta bars” that are loaned out free-of-charge to the customer base. As a healthy and tasty food offering, Pasta King has become very popular in secondary schools nationwide; it satisfies Governmental standards on salt, fat, fibre and vegetable content that were mandatorily imposed on all food served in schools from September 2009.

Pasta King has a growing presence in universities, business and industry and the leisure sectors. It has also recently received approval by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (“PASA”) for supply into hospitals and other primary healthcare trust establishments.

Debra Martin, Partner in the Corporate team at Geldards said: “After such a turbulent financial year it is very promising to see deals of this kind taking place. Pasta King has a great product at a time when both our food choices and their impact on our health are coming under greater scrutiny. We hope to have contributed to the future growth of this business.”

Richard Morley, Director of NBGIPE commented “We are delighted to be backing Howard and Mike for the second time on an MBI into the food service sector. They are a very high quality team and I’m confident that they will take the business to new levels by further development of the successful Pasta King model.”

Howard Farquhar, Managing Director of Pasta King (UK) Ltd. said “Pasta King has a very strong position in secondary schools. We want to build on that with improved merchandising, marketing and product development not only for further growth in the education sector but also to significantly increase our presence in other markets.”