Robyn and Stephen discuss a streetwear brand worn by Lewis Hamilton and Hailey Bieber, the acquisition of a food manufacturer and a deal for a personal care brand.
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00:00A streetwear brand worn by Lewis Hamilton and Hayley Bieber, the acquisition of a food
00:04manufacturer and a deal for a personal care brand featuring today's business briefing.
00:08Good morning, Robin.
00:10Good morning, Stephen.
00:12We've just got some great stories this morning, what's caught your eye?
00:18Yeah, so the first one is about refillable personal care brand Wild.
00:21So I don't know if you've come across them, I think they're kind of stocked in a lot of
00:24supermarkets and sort of boots, things like that.
00:27It's like a natural deodorant brand, but they also make kind of lip balms, body washers,
00:31things like that.
00:32So the big news is that they've been acquired by Unilever, which obviously has a lot of
00:36really well-known brands in its arsenal.
00:39So the group is thought to have raised about 10 million from external investors, including
00:44Jam Jar Ventures, which is the investment vehicle of Innocent Drinks founders.
00:49And Unilever has now acquired Wild for an undisclosed sum, but reports have said that
00:53the deal could be worth up to 230 million.
00:56So yeah, really, really big deal there.
00:58So Wild was launched back in 2020 and they've had kind of this mission to stop plastic filling
01:04up bathrooms.
01:06So yeah, taking away kind of plastic packaging and things like that and the natural products.
01:11So obviously it's really appealed to Unilever.
01:13Great stuff.
01:14Yeah.
01:15Well, sticking with deals news, we've got the news this morning that Whitworth's Food
01:18Group has announced acquisition or the proposed acquisitions are of KTC Edibles Group from
01:22private equity firm Endless.
01:24So KTC supplies more than 370,000 tons of fats and oils and employs 450 people across
01:31five sites in the UK and Ireland.
01:34Endless acquired the business in May 2022 and has invested in the business over the
01:38last three years.
01:39So that's included supporting two acquisitions made during that period.
01:45It was included Carderwan, a Scottish business and Irish business Trilby.
01:50The new owner, Whitworth's Group, was founded in 1886 and it's a flour milling business
01:55with 10 sites in the UK.
01:56It's been owned by the George family since the 1930s.
02:00They've grown it to more than 900 million in revenue.
02:03The new owners said they plan to work with the existing management team at KTC to grow
02:06the business.
02:07So really exciting developments there.
02:09Yeah, sounds like a great story.
02:11So another one from me is about streetwear brand worn by the likes of Lewis Hamilton
02:15and Hayley Bieber.
02:16So Stephen, have you come across hero clothing?
02:19I can't say I have.
02:21So apparently they became famous for doing men's clothing originally, but also obviously
02:25do women's as well.
02:27I don't think I've come across them, but obviously they are well known by a lot of celebrities.
02:31Yeah, possibly not the right audience for us.
02:33Yeah.
02:34But yeah, so Hero Clothing directors Holly Beadle and Georgia Streeton have become majority
02:39shareholders in the British fashion brand.
02:42So the move comes as part of a strategic restructure led by owner Paul Richardson.
02:47So he was formerly at Gymshark, the chairman there, and he acquired the business back in
02:51October 2021.
02:52But since then, the growth has really been led by Holly and Georgia.
02:58So they are his daughters as well.
02:59So nice family business there.
03:01And they're now successfully driving the rebranding and relaunch as co-owners.
03:05Well, the last thing from us today, our new Scottish newsletter has the story of a crisp
03:11manufacturer which is scaling up his operations after securing a deal to supply 900 Marks
03:16and Spencer stores.
03:17Perthshire-based Taylor Snacks will supply its new Extreme Ridge Crisp to the M&S stores.
03:24So that is to tell you the extreme.
03:27I was going to say, what makes it an extreme ridge?
03:29Well, it's a thinner cut and a tighter ridge, apparently, compared to standard crisps.
03:34And it will come in flavours including four cheese and onion, sizzling steak and chicken
03:38curry.
03:40The company has created 30 jobs as a result of the partnership, so really great growth
03:44there.
03:45And its managing director, James Taylor, said the partnership was an exciting milestone
03:48for the business and highlighted the really positive impact it had on its facility in
03:52Evel.
03:53Oh, great.
03:54Well, that's all from us today.
03:56If you want to read more about any of those stories, visit insidermedia.com.
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