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Bridget Carter

Quadrant Private Equity takes $200m Darrell Lea bite

Bridget Carter
Tony Quinn and his son Klarke Quinn at Darrell Lea’s Ramsgate factory.
Tony Quinn and his son Klarke Quinn at Darrell Lea’s Ramsgate factory.

Darrell Lea’s owners have reaped around $200 million from its sale to Quadrant Private Equity, which has snapped up the confectionery maker.

The company is best known for its soft eating licorice and Rocklea Road products and was acquired by the Quinn family in 2012 after it was placed into voluntary administration.

Quadrant’s motivation for the acquisition is understood to be linked to Darrell Lea’s strong brand, its dominant position in the licorice market and potential for global expansion into the US.

While the price paid for the operation has not been disclosed, The Australian can reveal it to be around $200m.

Darrell Lea was founded by Harry and Esther Lea in 1927 in the Sydney suburb of Manly and is now based in Ingleburn, NSW.

The business has been expanded in the past six years to be sold in supermarkets after stores closed in 2012.

Quadrant already has a relationship with the Quinn family, buying into its VIP Petfoods business two years ago for $410m.

The pet food company was expanded by Quadrant and renamed the Real Petfood Company, which Quadrant sold last year for $1 billion to a Chinese and Singapore-backed consortium.

Bridget Carter
Bridget CarterDataRoom Editor

Bridget Carter has worked as a writer and editor for The Australian’s DataRoom column since it was launched in 2013, focusing on capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and investment banking. She has been a journalist for more than 18 years, covering a broad range of events and topics, including high profile court cases and crimes, natural disasters, social issues and company news.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/dataroom/quadrant-private-equity-takes-250m-darrel-lea-bite/news-story/85de68af7a7212fdce11658024aba5ca