Big Potato Games is a leading creator, licensor, designer and distributor of party and family games. The company is a leader and a trend-setter, with a rich portfolio of IP combining a growing list of established favourites with a reputation for creating innovative and exciting new titles. It now sells over 64 titles, both online and through retailers worldwide, in 44 countries in total.

Big Potato became a certified B-Corp in 2024 and employs 63 people in its London office, with a growing international presence in both the United States and Germany.

The Deal

Mobeus invested £16.2m to fund a buyout from private shareholders and an EOT with a view to accelerating new product development and international expansion. Mobeus introduced Judy Gibbons as Chair. She was formerly Chair of Wonderbly, the personalised books business, as well as Which?.

The Plan

Mobeus’s investment will enable the business to continue to invest in growing existing products to create more “big hitters” and enhance New Product Development. Sales will also be increased by maximising existing sale channels and increasing online sales. Controlling more distribution in-house will improve margins and facilitate category management – a plan Mobeus adopted extremely successfully in Star Brands. There is also potential upside by further developing its digital offering.

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Distant Journeys specialises in proprietary escorted tours for older travellers seeking long-haul, memorable excursions. The business currently focuses exclusively on UK consumers, with a product offering to a range of destinations across Australasia, Asia, Southern Africa and North America.

The Deal

Mobeus invested £15.2m as a combined debt and equity package as part of a buyout of founder shareholders.  MD Simon Whittle remained with the business to lead these growth initiatives, and Mobeus introduced several key executives to join the established senior management team. Richard Bowden-Doyle joined as Chairman, bringing a wealth of experience from his tenure at industry giants such as Thomson Holidays, Thomas Cook, and Lastminute.com, along with leadership roles at Saga Travel Group, Titan Travel UK, and Neilson Active Holidays.

The Plan

Distant Journeys has delivered strong growth post COVID and the plan is to build on this momentum, launching new itineraries in existing destinations whilst expanding into new destinations. Operational improvements are also on the agenda, with investments earmarked for upgrading sales and customer engagement systems.

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At investment, Star Brands was primarily a supplier of own label cleaning and detergent products for UK retailers. Structural change in the grocery market enabled Star Brands to grow rapidly. However, the bigger opportunity was to reposition the business and build a challenger brand, The Pink Stuff, that took share from larger branded FMCG players.

The Deal

Mobeus invested £11.6m as a combined debt and equity package to fund a £14m BIMBO from private owners. There was a strong management team in place that had a track record of success. Mobeus introduced proven operator Nick Ward as Chairman as part of the transaction.

The Impact

Pink Stuff was repackaged and reformulated (with its now signature rhubarb fragrance). Star Brands used social media influencers to re-launch the brand which went viral, logging over 200 million monthly views and driving international growth – it is now sold in over 120 countries. The Pink Stuff was re-positioned outside the UK as a premium brand, and the range expanded to over 20 SKUs. In 2023 Mobeus led the acquisition of the US distributor which brought direct access to US retailers and almost doubled EBITDA. Over the investment, Star delivered growth of 5x in sales and 15x in EBITDA.

The Realisation

The business was acquired by RPM International Inc. for £345m (plus an earnout), a NYSE-listed company with global sales exceeding $7 billion and a diverse portfolio of market-leading brands such as Rust-Oleum, DAP, Carboline and Tremco.

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The Business

Active Travel Group specialises in tailor-made activity and adventure holidays, from skiing and cycling in Europe and North America, to hiking and sea kayaking in the Scottish Highlands. ATG’s award-winning brands include: leading winter sports operator Ski Solutions; Scottish Highlands-based adventure tour operator Wilderness Scotland; Irish adventure holidays operator Wilderness Ireland and outbound cycling and walking operators BSpoke and Cycling for Softies.

The Deal

We provided over £6m as part of the secondary buyout of Ski Solutions, with the clear objective of creating a more balanced, year-round activities business. We conducted a thorough acquisition search, which identified Wilderness Scotland as the most attractive opportunity, and we provided a further £3m to fund its MBO and acquisition by ATG.

The Plan

The enlarged group has rebranded to create Active Travel Group and is looking for potential bolt-on opportunities to further broaden its offering of summer and winter adventure holidays.

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Tushingham Sails owns the world-leading inflatable Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) brand Red Paddle Co. Red Paddle is the world’s only dedicated inflatable SUP brand, sold in 60 countries. 

The Deal

We provided £4 million as a combined debt and equity package to allow the business to maintain its leading position in an attractive and growing niche in the watersports sector.

The Plan

The global SUP market is in a significant growth phase. The funding will allow the business to invest in working capital to fund further international growth.

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Master Removers Group provides specialist and extremely well-regarded logistics, storage and removals services to international businesses and domestic consumers alike. Its iconic Aussie Man & Van and Anthony Ward Thomas brands are well known across London, with MRG counting Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom and the Archbishop of Canterbury as clients.

The Deal

We invested £7.2 million in MRG in December 2014 to support an equity release for the shareholders of the business. Our funding was provided as a combined debt and equity package. Management was attracted to us as high levels of rollover and strong fixed asset cover enabled us to construct a deal that saw them retain a majority stake in the business post completion. Extremely strong cash generation at MRG enabled the entirety of our loan stock to be repaid in January 2016 and dividend payments to commence just 13 months after the original buyout.

The Plan

MRG is run by a high-quality management team with strong operational capabilities and a proven track record in making astute, add-on acquisitions, the latter of which was a key component of the strategy adopted for the group post completion. Since our investment, MRG has made five acquisitions to accelerate its expansion outside London and into the West of England. Taken together, the business has increased utilisation of its warehouse, vehicle and labour resources in turn increasing its turnover, profitability and cash generation substantially since the investment was made. 

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Award-winning The Gro Company invented the Grobag Baby Sleep Bag, approved by The Lullaby Trust. Having sold over three million Grobags worldwide, Gro is known as the ‘official baby sleep bag’ brand and has expanded its product range across nursery care and sleep solutions.

The Deal

We backed the MBO of Gro from the original founders in March 2013, investing £7.1m as a Combined Debt and Equity package. We worked alongside the management team to professionalise and expand the business, introducing Chairman Jules Hydleman with a strong record in consumer brands. In 2018, the business was sold to Mayborn Group, the owner of the tommee tippee brand, for an enterprise value of £22m.

The Impact

Following the MBO, Gro launched a range of new products and expanded internationally. It now sells in more than 25 countries. The exit represented a total return of over 2x money and an IRR of over 20%.

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British International Holdings held two major long-term contracts to provide helicopter support services to military operations in Plymouth and the Falkland Islands, and operated the scheduled passenger route between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly.

Original Deal

Funds advised by Mobeus backed the secondary MBO of the company from private equity investors in June 2006, investing £3.5 million.

Impact

The business began to face a structural decline, exacerbated by the recession, in the number of passengers flying to the Isles of Scilly. Mobeus actively assisted in the restructuring of the business, investing further funds to enable the group to close the unprofitable route and dispose of its principal property asset.

Further funds were also advanced to facilitate the sale of the company’s major military contracts, thereby preserving employment in the West Country and enabling an orderly winding down of activities.

Sale

In October 2012 the company’s property in Penzance was sold, followed in May 2013 by the sale to Patriot Aerospace of the company’s military contracts.

Mobeus Returns

The investment at cost of £4.7 million has generated total proceeds of £8.3 million (1.8x money).

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Iglu was founded in 1998, has a turnover of £90m and is the largest online ski travel agent and the fastest growing cruise travel agent in the UK.

Original Deal

In December 2009, Mobeus invested £4.3m into Iglu.com, a market leading online travel agent, as part of a buyout and recapitalisation of the business. An established operator in ski, Iglu.com had just entered the nascent cruise market.

Impact

Following the original transaction, the business invested heavily in building its cruise operations and revenue increased from £45m to £90m. Profits also doubled over the period.

Sale

In May 2012, the company was sold in a secondary buyout to Growth Capital Partners in a £19m transaction.

Mobeus Returns

The sale returned £11.1m in cash to the Mobeus VCTs achieving a return equating to a 2.6x money multiple and an IRR of 70% from the deal.

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