This Pick ‘n’ Mix giant is getting in the big guns
(Flickr)
The pick ‘n’ mix market may seem at the lower end of the corporate finance spectrum but it’s big business for private equity-backed Tangerine Confectionary, the northern-based manufacturer of some of the UK’s favourite sweets.
Tangerine produces a host of iconic British sweets. Remember Black Jacks? Well, it makes them. And Fruit Salads? Yep them too. In fact it also does Sherbet Fountains, and most famous of all, it make flumps, beloved by pick ‘n’ mix aficionados the land over. It also has quite a nice sideline manufacturing Butterkist popcorn.
If you thought pick ‘n’ mix was the preserve of lonely seaside shopkeepers, think again. It attracts some of the world’s top dealmakers from Wall Street and the City of London – as evidenced by a recent management overhaul at Tangerine.
Tangerine is owned by US private equity giant Blackstone. The firm has just poached a new chief financial officer (CFO) from fish finger maker Birds Eye, which is owned by European private equity giant Permira – part of a broader management shakeup of executives at the firm.
Tangerine’s new CFO, Eve Juhasz, joined Tangerine last month from Birds Eye where she was operations finance director.
The move comes as Tangerine prepares to welcome its new chief executive, Benoit Testard, who has been brought across Blackstone from another of its portfolio companies United Biscuits where he was formerly chief executive.
Benoit joins forces with Juhasz in March – a move which is likely to see Tangerine grow an even stronger presence in City circles.