|  Updated: 

Little Moons set to fetch £100m in private equity bidding war

By:

City Editor

Add as a preferred source on Google
Rachel Kent, senior partner at Hogan Lovells, says action is needed to boost London's capital markets this year.
Rachel Kent, senior partner at Hogan Lovells, says action is needed to boost London's capital markets this year.

An ice cream business that boomed in popularity via TikTok is the focus of a private equity bidding war that could value it at above £100m.

Little Moons, which creates Japanese mochi ice cream balls, has surged in popularity thanks to a viral TikTok video and now has five private equity firms readying a bid, The Grocer first reported.

Investment bank Houlihan Lokey is running an auction for the firm with Bridgepoint, Investcorp, L Catterton, Perwyn and True are all circling the firm.

City sources told the Grocer that a deal is expected to close in the next four weeks at a valuation of over £100m..

One dealmaker said: “Little Moons has first-mover advantage in the UK, good branding, and it has really caught the zeitgeist.

“The business has grown phenomenally and done a great job of transitioning a social media-driven boom into something sustainable.”

A 2021 TikTok video saw sales at Tesco skyrocket 700 per cent before Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s and Asda all then moved to start stocking the product, on top of existing distribution deals with Waitrose and Ocado.

Revenues at the firm boomed to around £50m in the last year.