ECI announces sale of MPM delivering a 4.4x return

09/11/2020
Read Time: 2 Min
Cat eating pet food - MPM sale

ECI is delighted to announce that it has exchanged on the sale of MPM for a return of 4.4x. The completion is subject to regulatory clearance. 

Manchester-headquartered MPM produces premium, natural pet food for discerning cat and dog owners under the Applaws, Encore and Reveal brands. With products sold across 50 countries, the business has maintained its strong growth this year. The business proved itself to be highly resilient since the initial impact of Covid-19. 

ECI first invested in MPM in March 2016 to help support its international growth. Today, over 60% of MPM’s revenues are international, with strong growth in both the US and APAC markets during ECI’s involvement. MPM prides itself on developing high-quality and innovative products, plus enriching the lives of pets and their owners through visibly better pet food. It is well-positioned across pet speciality, grocery and online channels as demonstrated by its strong revenue growth. MPM has seen consistent growth of over 20% each year for the past five years. 

Worth over £58 billion, the global pet food sector has grown annually since 2005. That included during the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis. The long-term growth drivers supporting this include the rise in pet numbers, increasing interest in the premium segment as consumers spend more on their pets, and a growing focus on quality and sustainability.

“It has been fantastic partnering with ECI over the last four years, to further strengthen our platform, internationalise our business and develop new product lines. We pride ourselves on our values of transparency, simplicity and responsibility, and look forward to bringing MPM’s high-quality, premium pet food to an even wider global audience during the next stage of our journey.”

Julian Bambridge

CEO of MPM

“We’re delighted to announce the sale of MPM. Julian and the team have done an exceptional job, successfully growing the business internationally, with MPM’s focus on quality really resonating with consumers globally. We believe MPM is well placed to continue its impressive growth and would like to thank the team for a successful partnership as we wish them all the best for the future.”

Mark Keeley

Partner at ECI Partners

Harris Williams and Squire Patton Boggs served as financial adviser and legal counsel, respectively, to MPM and ECI

Encore pet food brand sale of MPM

ECI announce close of latest fund

Find out more