Sale of award winning Salads To Go

Catalyst has advised the shareholders of Salads To Go on the sale of the business to French owned, Soleco UK, the owner of Florette.

Soleco, which operates from a base in Staffordshire, is the third biggest player in the UK salad market and has taken a significant step into the own label and food service market at the same time with this significant transaction.

Based in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, Salads To Go is a Sunday Times Fast Track Growth business and is the fastest growing packer of bagged own label and food service salads in the UK. It has industry leading facilities, a highly innovative product development team at the forefront of its sector and a small but growing presence in the small fruit preparation market. Its clients include the major supermarkets and it also has long standing contracts with the food service industry.

Catalyst worked with the shareholders preparing for the sale, including advising the board on strategy, assisting with the appointment of a new finance director and setting up new financial and operating reporting systems within the business. We then identified Soleco as being the most likely buyer and entered into exclusive negotiations with them. This strategy had the advantage of keeping the deal highly confidential, which was very important to the owners.

Simon Peacock, Principal at Catalyst commented “The time and care that has been invested into building Salads To Go and preparing it for sale has paid rewards for the owners. In these uncertain times it is still possible to achieve excellent results for business owners through patience, early planning and attention to detail.

In this case we were able to deliver a deal that has not only achieved a significant return to the shareholders at completion, but which will also allow them to continue to be involved in the day to day running of the business and participate in its future success.”