Investor Rabo Participaties acquires a 40% interest in V&S Foodspecialist

V&S Food Specialist (V&S), a Dutch manufacturer of hand-made satay, ethnic and vegetarian snacks has attracted a new shareholder: Rabo Participaties. The Leiden based company is a renowned producer for various European customers, especially in the food service industry.

V&S wishes to further strengthen its position in these markets by, among other things, focussing on further product development together with its customers and its ability to quickly respond to client demands through its flexible production processes. This anticipated growth will be supported by capacity expansion. In addition, V&S sees opportunities for selective acquisitions. Thanks to the shareholding of Rabo Participaties, V&S is now ideally positioned for this.

“Rabo Participaties fits well with us; there was an instant click”; says managing director and major shareholder Eric Postma of V&S in an explanation. “Rabo Participaties is a strong, financial partner, has a cooperative background, is pragmatic, just like us, and is keen to support the envisaged growth strategy of the company in the long term.”

The participation in V&S fits well with Rabo Participaties as the company is supported to realize further growth and it fits seamlessly with her food & agri “sweet spot”. Dolf Broekveldt, investment director at Rabo Participaties: "V&S is an interesting and innovative company with a well-defensible position in the food market with more than sufficient growth potential. The fact that the entrepreneurial managing director retains a majority interest, and other management team members also acquire a stake, confirms our confidence in the company and the strategic direction of the company.’’

V&S has been advised by Squarefield (M&A) and Van Doorne (legal). Rabo Participaties was assisted by DLA Piper (legal), KPMG (financial) and JSA Tax Consultancy (fiscal).

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The history of V&S dates back to 1904. Over the years the company has proactively and successfully adapted to the changing market and quality requirements. In recent years, the company has grown substantially through a combination of organic growth and a number of strategic acquisitions. V&S operates in more than ten countries across Europe. By the end of 2017 the number of employees was 260.

Rabo Participaties is part of Rabo Private Equity, the investment arm of the Rabobank Group. Currently, the investment branch of Rabobank has more than EUR 1 billion under management through (international) fund investments and direct participations. Rabo Participaties invests directly in rapidly growing Dutch companies who seek a partner to realize further growth and/or a change of ownership. Rabo Participaties is flexible when it comes to investment structures, holding both minority and majority stakes, whereby the partnership with the entrepreneur is always essential and the first priority.