Dorset Cereals: mainstream breakfast cereal company sold

Dorchester / UK. (lc) Langholm Capital announces the sale of Dorset Cereals Ltd to Wellness Foods. Dorset Cereals was acquired by Langholm Capital, the mid market specialist consumer private equity fund, in a management buy-in in April 2005.

Under Langholm Capital´s ownership, the brand has been successfully re-launched both in the United Kingdom and overseas. The brand has grown strongly in the muesli category which has provided a platform to create new products to extend into other cereal categories: porridge, flakes and cereal bars. In 2007, total branded sales nearly doubled, with Dorset Cereals becoming the no. 2 muesli brand in the UK, as well as the fastest growing mainstream breakfast cereals company overall.

In the period of Langholm Capital´s ownership there has been heavy investment in the business in both the factory and in brand development, with the number of employees more than doubling to over 100. Dorset Cereal´s senior management team of Peter Farquhar, Nigel Horsman and Patrick Horton will remain with the business and Wellness Foods is highly supportive of management´s plans to grow the business both in the UK and overseas. Senior management will continue to be significant shareholders in the business press release.