Premier Foods, the UK food manufacturer that owns Hovis bread, Branston pickle and Quorn, exemplifies the difficulties that former buyouts face when the burden of high leverage is submitted to the public glare.
The company was floated on the stock market by Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, the private equity group, in July 2004. Interest payments on its debt pile were a factor in driving the company to a loss at its maiden set of results and, in spite of its relatively weak financial position, the company made a series of acquisitions in subsequent years.
