Re:Capital acquires Betta Foods

Newsletter
Re:Capital acquires Betta Foods
Re:Capital Australia, Hilco Capital’s Australian arm,
completed its third major transaction with the
acquisition of specialist confectionery manufacturer
Betta Foods. The Broadmeadows, Melbournebased business joins chocolate
manufacturer, Hillier’s, in a
newly formed holding company,
the Confectionery Innovation
Group.
Betta Foods was established
in 1954 and specialises in the
production of liquorice and
marshmallow products which
are sold under the Capricorn and
Eskimo brands. The company also produces private
label liquorice, marshmallow and ice cream cone
products for Australia’s leading supermarket chains
and fast food groups.
Hilco assists
Administrator of
Phones 4u
The Re:Capital team will work with the management
teams of Betta Foods and Hillier’s to identify
synergies within the group, while pursuing expansion
opportunities.
September also saw Hillier’s
kick off its centennial
celebrations with a launch
party at Her Majesty’s Theatre
in Melbourne. The theatrical
theme was in honour of Ernest
Hillier’s original success in
supplying chocolate to theatres
that established the business.
Hillier’s, which is Australia’s oldest chocolate
manufacturer, has produced a special centenary
edition of its Famous Red Box, including all of
Australia’s favourite centres.
Stars show their support for HMV
The morning’s keynote presentations by HMV’s
management team and key suppliers were
interspersed with live performances by global
superstar, Ed Sheeran (pictured), former Supergrass
front man, Gaz Coombes, and legendary singersongwriter, Neil Diamond.
The HMV Store Managers’ Conference saw a stellar
cast of performers take to the stage at London’s
Vinopolis, reflecting the entertainment industry’s
renewed support for the revitalised retailer.
Q3 2014
Meanwhile, stars from Annie Lennox to McBusted
appeared by video to show their gratitude to HMV’s
Store Managers for an exceptional year that has
seen HMV grow its market share and return to
profitability.
The evening saw Golden Nipper awards p2 ➤
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Following the appointment of
PwC as Administrators of the
mobile phone retailer Phones4u
in September, a team from
Hilco was appointed to design,
implement and manage an
effective wind down and exit of a
number of non-core stores.
The Hilco team worked alongside
PwC and the Phones4u team to
manage the wind down of 421
stores over a four week period.
The project represents the largest
single closure programme of retail
stores since the administration of
the Clinton Cards and Birthdays
greeting card chain in 2012.
198 Phones4u stores and their
staff transferred to new owners,
including Vodafone and EE, while
Dixons Carphone hired former
Phones4u staff working in 161
concessions in its stores.
Newsletter
➤p1 presented to the retailer’s
best performing stores
and team members while
stadium rockers Simple Minds
brought proceedings to a rousing
conclusion with an energetic
set of anthems including,
appropriately for the resurgent
HMV, Alive and Kicking.
In addition to growing sales,
profitability and market share, the
past twelve months have seen a
strong recovery in the HMV brand
itself which had been damaged
by the decline and failure of the
old business. In August, research
firm YouGov reported that HMV’s
YouGov BrandIndex score had
reached “a very healthy 10.6”,
adding that “in most of our
key metrics, we have seen
improvement, featuring a good
degree of consistency, a contrast
to the tumult HMV experienced
previously.”
HMV opened a further three high
street stores during the third
quarter, returning to locations
where it had previously had
a presence. In Croydon and
Braehead, the business opened
in new locations close to the
previous sites while in Moorgate
in the City of London, HMV
reopened in the same unit it had
previously occupied.
A new store in Luton is scheduled
to open in November which will
take the total number of UK
locations to 128 as the business
enters the critical Christmas
trading period.
Kraus flooring on a roll in Q3
The momentum gained at the revitalised Kraus
Group through a successful start to the year
continued through the third quarter with Group
revenues rising by 20% compared with the same
period in 2013, driven by a $7 million investment in
new product development. So far this year, Kraus
– which was acquired by Hilco in June 2012 – has
rolled out 40 new styles of flooring, compared with
35 in 2013 and just seven in 2012.
The demanding development schedule required
Kraus to further ramp up production, resulting in
the business hiring an additional 30 staff over the
summer months. During the month of August alone,
Kraus’ factory in Waterloo, Ontario produced over
one million square metres of carpet – enough to
cover 140 football pitches.
Kraus also sponsored the Red Carpet Suite
(pictured) at the Toronto International Film Festival
for the second year running. The suite – a VIP
cocktail lounge for stars to relax in before they walk
the red carpet – was designed by the creative team
from House & Home magazine and utilised Kraus’
Rubicon commercial carpet tile.
Burleigh on all the top tables
The resurgence in popularity of Burleighware
continued apace with London’s Evening Standard
reporting in that Burleigh crockery can be found
gracing London’s most in-demand restaurant tables.
Burleigh’s Asiatic Pheasants design, which the
company has been making since 1862, can be seen
in Mayfair’s Gymkhana, which won the Restaurant
of the Year in this year’s National Restaurant Awards.
Meanwhile, as the Standard puts it, “the precise
same pheasant shows up at Chiltern Firehouse, the
A-listers’ hangout of choice, as well as the British
Museum’s new Court Restaurant”, concluding
that “heritage pottery has made a spectacular
comeback.”
TV phenomenon The Great British Bake Off has
also played a major role in stoking public demand
for high quality, British-made ceramics with sales
of Hartley Greens – part of the Denby group along
2 Hilco Capital Newsletter Q3 2014
with Burleigh – rocketing after being featured on
the programme recently. Denby has also restarted
production of cake stands, which had been
discontinued several years ago, after they featured
on the programme.
Burleigh has also launched a new range in
collaboration with Highgrove, the home of TRH
The Prince Of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.
Highgrove Coronation Meadows features botanical
illustrations of meadow flowers and is inspired by
the Coronation Meadows project, which aims to
establish wildflower meadows across the UK.
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Newsletter
That’s show business for Clipper
HMV Ireland
supports home
grown talent
and saw the team double the number of units sold
at Southampton last year.
Clipper Marine’s brokerage sales for the year to date
were up 235% year-on-year at the end of the third
quarter while the company’s yacht charter service
(pictured, below) enjoyed brisk trade with a busy
schedule of corporate hospitality and private events.
The Clipper Marine team achieved over £3 million
of sales at this year’s Southampton Boat Show in
September, smashing their previous record at the
show. Clipper exhibited a wide range of Bavaria
boats, including the UK debut of the Easy 9.7 sail
boat and the 360 Sport Coupé power boat (pictured).
HMV Ireland’s year long
sponsorship of the First Music
Contact scheme reached its
conclusion with the Hard Working
Class Heroes music festival
(pictured) and conference in
venues across Dublin in early
October. The scheme, which is
backed by the Arts Council of
Ireland, is a national organisation
dedicated to Irish bands and the
independent music sector in
Ireland and has propelled acts
including The Strypes, Kodaline
and Hozier on to major label
deals and international success.
This year’s show attracted over 112,000 visitors
PureHMV comes Denby stronger
to Ireland
than ever
The PureHMV loyalty programme launched in Ireland
in September, bringing ‘cool stuff money can’t buy’
to HMV Ireland and Xtra-vision customers for the
first time. Members earn points on transactions
at HMV and Xtra-vision which can be traded for
exclusive signed merchandise, priority access to instore events, red carpet premiere tickets and entry
into contests to win once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
The scheme has already been a huge success in
Canada and the UK since its relaunch. PureHMV
members account for 40% of all spend in HMV’s
stores in Canada while HMV UK sells over 8,000
new membership cards every week.
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Denby has unveiled updated branding, together
with a new tagline that plays – quite literally – to
the strengths of their products. The move coincides
with the launch of a new, responsively designed
website that has already seen a sales increase of
18% compared with the same period last year.
Both sales and production at Denby continued to
run at record levels in the third quarter, buoyed by a
near-100% increase in exports, coupled with a solid
UK performance.
HMV’s headline sponsorship has
seen First Music Contact’s acts
perform in the Dublin and Belfast
flagship stores every Friday
throughout the year together with
the stores stocking CDs from the
best acts which has resulted in a
number of up-and-coming bands
breaking into the Irish Top 10 for
the first time in their careers.
Visit www.hwch.net for more.
Hilco Capital Newsletter Q3 2014 3
Newsletter
New starter joins Re:Capital Canada
Stephen Moore joined the team in September as
Investment Director of Re:Capital Canada, based in
Toronto. Stephen is a qualified Chartered Accountant
in both Canada and the UK, having trained at PwC in
London, and is a Canadian Chartered Insolvency and
Restructuring Professional.
Stephen brings over 14 years’ experience in
corporate advisory, restructuring and turnaround and
joins Re:Capital from Alvarez & Marsal in Toronto.
He has advised lenders, equity sponsors, public
and private clients on restructuring matters, most
notably in the manufacturing, retail, pharmaceutical/
healthcare and professional services sectors. He
has also acted in court-appointed officer roles under
formal Canadian insolvency proceedings.
All of us welcome Stephen to the team.
Hilco team rides to Legend of Football
front of the pack
award for Giggs
Legends in their
own lunchtime
NEWS
FROM
ACROSS
THE POND
Hilco Brands’ Polaroid launched
the Cube in September. The
1.5” rubberised cube is a robust
and beautifully designed, full HD
action video camera. Designed by
Ammunition, the agency led by
award winning Apple and Beats
industrial design veteran Robert
Brunner, the Polaroid Cube is set to
create a new entry level proposition
in the action video camera market,
retailing at just $99.
The Government of Mexico
appointed Hilco Acetec to sell
assets under its control. The 140
million peso auction was held
over three days in September and
attracted over 300 buyers.
Hilco Capital’s Matt Holt
(pictured), Hugh Whitcomb and
Chris Emmott took part in the
Prudential RideLondon-Surrey
100 in August, raising funds for
Children with Cancer UK.
Hilco’s team completed the 100
mile cycle race in 4 hours 48
minutes, finishing eighth out of
the 70 teams that competed, in
spite of unseasonable weather
conditions thanks to the tail end
of Hurricane Bertha.
With the Children with Cancer
annual fundraiser coming up, the
team would be grateful for any
final donations via justgiving.
com/PrudentialRideLondon.
Ryan Giggs was presented
with the prestigious Legend of
Football Award at this year’s HMV
Football Extravaganza. Now in
its 19th year, past events have
seen the award given to such
luminaries of the beautiful game
as Pelé, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir
Stanley Matthews, Sir Bobby
Charlton and José Mourinho.
The event, which raised over
£400,000 for music therapy
charity Nordoff Robbins, saw
Giggs reunited with his former
Manchester United ‘class of
92’ team mates while Giggs’
fellow Welshmen, rock band
Stereophonics, flew in from the
US for the evening to perform a
blistering set of their hits.
With Hilco Capital’s regular
five-a-side team beset by
international call-ups (Foster,
Caine, O’Neill), and trials in
Stoke (Stamp), Hilco fielded an
experimental side against a team
from Resolve in September.
With Nick ‘The’ Kitchin between
the posts and Nick ‘Dynamo’
Underwood bossing midfield,
Hilco started confidently with
Holt scoring a blinder. Resolve
were rattled and Holt and Sher
(pictured) quickly scored a brace
each. A substitution for an injured
Matt Holt saw Chris ‘Special
Skills’ Emmott score, with the
match ending 14 – 12 to Hilco.
The New Orleans Redevelopment
Authority (‘NORA’) awarded Hilco
Real Estate the contract to sell at
auction over 2,500 properties that
were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Hilco Real Estate had previously
sold 462 NORA properties over
four separate auctions, totalling
$19.8 million.
Through an assignment for the
benefit of creditors in California,
online
jewellery
auctioneer,
Bidz.com, has retained Hilco
Streambank as the exclusive
agent to sell the company’s
intellectual property. Assets include
the Bidz.com trademark, the bidz.
com and buyz.com premium
domain names and a 6.7 million
record customer database.
Hilco Industrial was appointed in
September to sell the City of Detroit’s
excess municipal transportation and
utility maintenance assets. The sale
will include aged police cars, fire
trucks and rolling stock.
Published by Hilco Capital Limited, 80 New Bond Street, London W1S 1SB · Tel (0) 207 317 2050 · Fax (0) 207 317 2051 · © 2014 Hilco Capital Limited · All rights reserved
4 Hilco Capital Newsletter Q3 2014
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