Premium crisps brand Tyrrells has been sold to US-listed Amplify Snack Brands (BETR) for £300m by its private equity owner Investcorp.

Investcorp, which bought Tyrrells in August 2013 for £100m, and member of the Tyrrells management team will receive £278m in cash and approximately 2.1 million Amplify shares.

David Milner, CEO of Tyrrells, will become president international of Amplify upon completion of the transaction.

Amplify said it expects to close the deal by the end of the third quarter of 2016.

Founded in 2002, the Herefordshire-based snacking firm has experienced rapid growth under Investcorp, with sales and EBITDA more than doubling under its tenure and employee numbers growing by over 70% globally.

Tyrrells has expended rapidly outside its core UK market, with international sales now account for close to 40% of revenues compared to 20% three years ago after its acquisitions of Yarra Valley in Australia and Aroma Snacks in Germany.

The deal will see the Tyrrells range grow into the US, the largest global market for snacks, under the Amplify team who have experience of growing premium brands in North America.

All other non-North American territories, including the international launch of Amplify’s SkinnyPop popcorn, will be managed by the existing, UK-based Tyrrells team.

“Together, Amplify and Tyrrells will partner to create a truly unique international Better-For-You snack food leader that can continue to drive robust future revenue and earnings growth,” said Tom Ennis, Amplify’s President and CEO.

“We believe that the combination with Tyrrells will create significant long-term value for all of our stakeholders. Similar to Amplify, Tyrrells has a strong entrepreneurial spirit and successful track record of transforming categories and creating growth brands. We plan to capitalize on each company’s market leadership and sales forces to drive higher revenue growth than either company could independently accomplish.”

David Milner added: “We’re excited to join Amplify’s Better-For-You snack food platform as we combine our highly complementary businesses and brands to build an even stronger company for future international success.

“We were lucky enough to be able to choose our long-term partner and this partnership provides a significant opportunity to accelerate sales growth for Tyrrells’ brands in the United States, as well as the scope for Amplify’s brands in the international marketplace. Building upon the strength of each of our respective customer relationships and leveraging Tyrrells’ manufacturing capabilities, we shall be entering new territories as well as broadening our reach in existing markets.”

Austen, Texas-based Amplify is best known for SkinnyPop, which grew 35.3% to over $203m in sales last year and is one of the fastest growing ready-to-eat popcorn brands in North America. It also produces gourmet tortilla chips under the Paqui brand.

Amplify was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2015, valuing the firm at around $1.1bn.

 

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