Langholm profits dip in recession
LANGHOLM Capital, the buyout group whose portfolio includes a 67 per cent stake in high-end food brand Tyrrells Potato Chips, saw its profits slide by almost a quarter last year.
A handful of senior dealmakers – Bert Wiegman, Christian Lorenzen, Oliver Wyncoll and Paul Richings – shared a total of £1.7m in salary and bonuses for the year to the end of June, significantly less than their haul of £2.1m in 2008.
The figures reflect what was a difficult time for the private equity industry. Despite recent indications of a pick-up in merger activity, the first half of 2009 was the slowest since 2002 in terms of the number of deals completed, according to numbers collected by takeover research firm PitchBook.
A source close to Langham said the previous year’s figures had been buoyed by a bumper crop of disposals, with the firm’s stake in Dorset Cereals being sold for £50m and its stake in pensions specialist Just Retirement being whittled down.
The partners have also been in the process of winding up one fund and launching another.
Langholm is a niche player that buys stakes in consumer-facing companies. Other investments on its books include Lumene, a Finnish beauty products maker and Cane-Line, which designs outdoor furniture. The partnership was founded by Wiegman in 2002.
In August, following nearly two years of pricier credit and more volatile returns from the stockmarket, Wiegman warned: “It’s game over for the big leveraged deals. I don’t think it will ever go back to how it was.”
In 2009 Langham donated £150 to charity, down from £3,000 the year before.