M&A Deal Summary

Empire Acquires Farm Boy

On September 24, 2018, Empire acquired retailer Farm Boy from Berkshire Partners for 800M CAD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Empire’s 1st transaction in the Retail sector.
  • This is Empire’s largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is Empire’s 1st transaction in Canada.
  • This is Empire’s 1st transaction in Ontario.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2018-09-24
Target Farm Boy
Sector Retail
Buyer(s) Empire
Sellers(s) Berkshire Partners
Deal Type Add-on Acquisition
Deal Value 800M CAD

Target

Farm Boy

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Farm Boy is a Canadian food retailer recognized for its produce, meat, bakery, cheese and fresh kitchen prepared items. The company provides a unique shopping experience in comparison to big box retailers or traditional grocers. Farm Boy produces its own extensive line of private label products made with absolute dedication to the highest standards of quality and freshness. The company currently has over 20 stores in the Greater Ottawa, Cornwall, Kingston and London areas with additional expansion plans underway.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

Empire

Stellarton, Nova Scotia, Canada
Category Company
Founded 1907
Sector Retail
Employees131,000
Revenue 30.5B CAD (2023)
DESCRIPTION

Empire is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire's key businesses are food retailing and related real estate. Empire was incorporated in 1907 and is based in Stellarton, Canada.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 1 of 1
Sector (Retail) 1 of 1
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 1 of 1
State (Ontario) 1 of 1
Country (Canada) 1 of 1
Year (2018) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 1

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

Berkshire Partners

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1984
PE ASSETS 16.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Berkshire Partners is a private equity firm focused on investing in businesses with strong management and that lead their respective markets. Berkshire will consider investments in both public and private companies. Prospective transactions for private companies include leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, growth capital financings, and privatizations. Public company transactions include take-privates, PIPEs, and equity stakes. Berkshire generally looks to invest $150 to $500 million of equity capital per transaction in companies valued up to $2 billion. Sectors of interest include industrial manufacturing, consumer products, retailing, transportation, communications and business services. Berkshire Partners was formed in 1984 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 53 of 61
Sector (Retail) 5 of 6
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 18 of 20
State (Ontario) 2 of 2
Country (Canada) 3 of 3
Year (2018) 3 of 4
Size (of disclosed) 10 of 16
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2018-09-05 Vapor IO

Austin, Texas, United States

Vapor IO is an early-stage micro data center business focused on mobile edge computing (MEC). The company builds and operates small data centers at wireless aggregation hubs, providing customers with edge colocation and interconnection services that are directly integrated with wireless infrastructure. Vapor IO’s unique combination of leading hardware and software is optimized to serve next-generation applications for carrier, cloud and enterprise customers at the edge of the network. Vapor IO is based in Austin, Texas.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2018-12-12 Catalina Marketing

St. Petersburg, Florida, United States

Catalina Marketing, Inc. is a provider of consumer-driven marketing solutions that drive lift and loyalty for the world’s leading CPG retailers and brands. Catalina personalizes the consumer’s path to purchase through mobile, online and in-store networks powered by the largest shopper history database in the world.

Sell -
Mergr

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