Investment bank and M&A advisory specialist Harris Williams advised Nature Delivered (d/b/a graze), a portfolio company of Carlyle Europe Technology Partners, on its sale to Unilever.
graze is a technology-enabled healthy snacks brand that sells its products online, directly to consumers through a subscription service and in retail. The business has access to unique data enabling it to pioneer innovation and maintain relationships with its customers. graze is present in over 30,000 across the U.K., as well as in national U.S. retailers such as Target, Walgreens and 7-Eleven.
The transaction, led by Glenn Gurtcheff, William Bain, Ryan Freeman, Andreas Poth, Andy Warczak and Faye Maughan of Harris Williams’ Consumer Group, extends the firm’s track record in the healthy snack sector.
“Unilever is a strong cultural fit for graze; they share a common vision for the roles healthy snacking and direct-to-consumer will play in helping to shape the future landscape of food,” said Ryan Freeman, a director at Harris Williams. “The partnership between the two businesses provides a compelling platform for future growth. We wish them all the best for the future.”
“graze is a unique, innovative company and a pioneer in the healthy snack sector, well positioned at the forefront of evolving consumer preferences and trends. It has been a privilege to work with graze’s senior team to find the right partner,” said William Bain, a managing director at Harris Williams.
The Carlyle Group is a global investment firm with $212 billion of assets under management across 339 investment vehicles as of September 30, 2018. It invests across four segments – corporate private equity, real assets, global credit and investment solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America.
Unilever is a supplier of beauty and personal care, home care and foods and refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries. It has 161,000 employees and generated sales of €53.7 billion in 2017. Over half (57%) of the company’s footprint is in developing and emerging markets.
