A note on the horse meat scandal that only @JulianSimpson1 seems to have flagged up so far: Findus, the most recent company under fire for horsemeat-contaminated products, was bought out by private equity firm Lion Capital in 2008.
Private equity firms make companies more efficient then re-sell, turning a profit in the process. They are also known for piling the companies they buy with debt and forcing them into radical cost-cutting measures – and a quick scan of Findus’s last half decade suggests this is exactly what happened here. Findus struggled after the buyout, and recently needed a £220m cash injection to stay afloat. It was also forced into “major restructuring” last year. Was there a point at which using cheaper meat became necessary?
On Friday attention turned to Comigel – the company that supplies meat to Findus, as well as Aldi, another company which is even now hastily clearing its shelves of “mislabelled” bolognaise and lasangne. Surprise, surprise: in 2007, Comigel was bought by French private equity firm Céréa Capital.
Private equity firms are used to being the villain of the piece: post 2008, some argued that their penchant for cheap credit would be the cause of the next financial crisis. It’s not all bad though – as this Moody’s report suggests, companies which have been bought out are much more likely to survive when the going gets tough.
But the key point here is that some companies can’t afford to be radically restructured to the point at which the product is compromised. And this includes food companies. Forget DNA tests – we should be keeping an eye out for food with chains of bought-out companies in their supply lines – that’s where the next food scandal’ll come from.
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