Oghma Partners is pleased to announce that it acted as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of UK-based C.T. Holmes Limited (‘Holmes Seafood’) on the sale of their business to Brasmar Group SGPS, S.A (‘Brasmar’), one of the main European players in the seafood industry.
Privately owned since its incorporation over 70 years ago, Holmes Seafood operates out of the historic Billingsgate Market in London and employs c. 40 staff. Holmes Seafood specialises in supplying independent frozen seafood wholesalers throughout the UK.
The acquisition of Holmes Seafood, benefiting from its privileged location in the largest inland fish market in the United Kingdom, will allow Brasmar to expand its presence in this geography, increasing the commercialisation of its products to British consumers. Holmes Seafood will maintain the current management team as well as all current jobs.
Mark Lynch, Partner at Oghma Partners, said: “We were delighted to achieve the sale for the Holmes Seafood shareholders who have found a good home for the business in Brasmar. This seafood sector deal follows on from our role advising on the recent acquisition of Ruskim Seafoods by Sykes and the sale of Icelandic Seachill to Hilton Group. Individually the team have now advised on over 18 seafood transactions making the Oghma team one of the most experienced in the seafood market.”
Andy Thomas, shareholder and Managing Director of Holmes Seafood, said of Oghma Partners: “Oghma were fantastic to work with and played a key role in the process. The team were professional throughout and did a great job coordinating the deal keeping the momentum going right through to completion. Oghma came highly recommended, and we chose them as our preference was to work with a specialist partner with a more personal touch; one who had a hands-on approach with good relationships and specialist knowledge of the food sector having completed numerous transactions in this sector over the past few years.”
This represents the sixth acquisition or sale that Oghma Partners has advised on in the last couple of years after the sale of K.T.C. Edibles Limited, the UK’s largest suppliers of edible oils, to Endless LLP; Wrights Food Group on the sale of the business to the Compleat Food Group; Sykes Seafood Limited on the acquisition of Ruskim Seafoods Limited; Novax AB on its acquisition of Ulrick & Short Limited, the UK-based clean label food ingredients specialists; and Direct-to-Consumer and UK-based recipe provider, SimplyCook Limited’s sale to Nestlé.
ENDS
About Oghma Partners
Based in London, Oghma Partners is an independent corporate finance advisory firm providing acquisition, divestment, fund-raising and strategy advice to European consumer-focused companies and investors. A ten-strong team, offering a combined track record of over 100 successfully completed deals and award-winning industry research expertise, Oghma Partners is ideally positioned to ensure companies and investors meet their corporate goals. The team includes members with extensive investment banking experienced gained in senior roles at leading global investment banks. Oghma Partners combines the tool kits of the big banks with an old-fashioned focus on the client. For more information please visit www.oghmapartners.com
