Barings Provides Secured Credit Facilities to Support Leading UK Bakery Business
Barings, one of the world’s leading investment managers, today announced that it is providing secured credit facilities to support the stabilisation of David Wood Baking (DWB), one of the UK’s leading manufacturers and distributors of artisan breads, ready meals, and sweet and savoury pastry products to a range of blue chip customers across the UK supermarket and high street food retailer universe.
In September 2023, DWB lost 1 of its 8 production facilities in Dudley, UK to a fire. The Company successfully migrated production to 4 other facilities with minimal interruption to its customer base. Barings’ funding will support DWB’s efforts to scale production further and refinance existing lenders.
Commenting, Stuart Mathieson, Head of Europe and APAC Private Credit and Capital Solutions at Barings said: “We are proud of our team’s ability to craft a bespoke, thoughtfully structured financing facility to support DWB through the disruption caused by the Dudley fire and are confident in the Company’s ability to return to, and accelerate, its prior growth trajectory. DWB is a recognized market leader in providing high-quality, high-value products to its clients and their end-customers and we look forward to partnering with David and his team to build on the company’s strong market position and momentum.”
Commenting, David Wood, Chairman and CEO, said: “Since the fire at Dudley, we have been working tirelessly to preserve and recover our business for the benefit of our customers, suppliers and wider stakeholders. It was important for us to find the right supportive partner as we focus on rebuilding our business. We were really impressed by Barings' speed of response and ability to quickly understand our business, the current challenges and, most importantly, share our passion to rebuild a business with product quality, innovation and customer service at its core.”
About Barings
Barings is a $406+ billion* global asset management firm that partners with institutional, insurance, and intermediary clients, and supports leading businesses with flexible financing solutions. The firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, seeks to deliver excess returns by leveraging its global scale and capabilities across public and private markets in fixed income, real assets and capital solutions. Learn more at Barings.com.
*As of March 31, 2024
About David Wood Baking
David Wood Baking, founded in 2008 by David and Karen Wood, is a Leeds-based food manufacturer of artisan breads, baked goods and ready meals products. The Company is operating 7 manufacturing sites across the UK and is servicing blue-chip customers in the retail, restaurants and food-to-go sectors.
Media Contacts
Barings@secnewgate.co.uk / Mediarelations@barings.com
