West Cornwall Pasty Co. Limited acquired by Samworth Brothers Limited

Enact is delighted to announce that its investment, West Cornwall Pasty Co. has been sold to Samworth Brothers for an undisclosed sum. 

The business, which operates across a wide range of travel and high street locations and has flagship trading partners such as Moto and the RFU, has been sold in a transaction which will see the Company find a long term home in the Samworth Brothers group following its successful turnaround over the last two and half years.

West Cornwall Pasty Co. was the first investment made by the Enact Fund in April 2014.  Since that time the management team, led by Executive Chairman Chris Peck, have taken the business from strength to strength – quadrupling profitability, extending the product offering and undertaking a major overhaul of the brand.    This exit marks the first realisation by the Enact Fund and delivers a 5.5x return to Investors.

Chris Cormack, Investment Director at Enact said;

“Having been involved since our initial investment in West Cornwall Pasty Co we are delighted to have seen the transformation and growth of the business that has seen us exit to Samworth Brothers.  We are incredibly proud of the work that has been done, initially to ensure the stability of the Company in 2014, and since then to create a thriving business, capable of great things in the future.  Chris Peck, Tony Keating and Leigh Dale have been an excellent management team that we have greatly enjoyed working with and we wish them all the best for the future.”

Chris Peck, Executive Chairman at West Cornwall Past Co said;

”We recognised the unrealised potent strength of the brand back in 2014, despite the business having seriously lost its way in the very competitive food-to-go market. With Enact & Endless’s backing we have been able to establish the brand as one of the “best in the class”, serving the travel, leisure and sports market and have positioned the business to exploit a very exciting growth plan over the next 3 years. Chris Cormack and Mike Rice in particular have been great supporters of our team and the business and we thank them for all their help over the last couple of years.  The future looks really exciting for the brand and it is with considerable satisfaction that we have been able to team up with Samworth Brothers who we viewed as the ideal suitor and custodian of the business for the future”.

Richard Armitage, Chief Financial Officer of Samworth Brothers, said; “We are delighted to be able to bring the West Cornwall Pasty Co into the Samworth Brothers family of companies.  We are able to offer many opportunities for the future growth of the business and an exciting future for our new colleagues.  Enact has done a great job of nurturing the business since 2014 and we are confident of being able to continue their good work.”