The Freshly Chopped salad bar brand, owned by a private equity firm, has purchased Scrumdiddly’s, a struggling Irish ice cream retailer that managed to undergo a successful rescue operation earlier this year. Knightbridge, the company established by ex-Deloitte accountant Kent Lim and restaurant owner Bock Liang, disclosed on a Tuesday that they had attained a majority stake in Scrumdiddly’s. As part of the deal, the former owners, Darren McCormack and Jennifer Kane, will maintain a minor shareholding in the business. The financial specifics of the deal, however, remain undisclosed.
Mr Lim has praised Scrumdiddly’s as a high-quality Irish brand with a committed clientele and has plans to elevate the brand to even greater successes. He is preparing for the nationwide and even international expansion of Scrumdiddly’s, confident in their success following their current five successful stores.
Scrumdiddly, having branches in Dublin, Kilkenny and Galway, had just recovered from a rescue operation that saw non-secured creditors write off 90 percent of debts owed to them. In January, via the Small Companies Administrative Rescue Process (Scarp), the ice cream company managed to restructure its debts without a court order and secured a lifeline of a €250,000 investment from two investors, which stopped the chain from closing down.
Scrumdiddly’s biggest creditor is the Revenue Commissioners, who in 2022 demanded a tax payment of €92,000 that had previously been deferred. Upon inspection, the company realised its deferred debt was nearly €300,000. Following a disagreement with the rescue plan, landlord Matthew Dockrell proceeded to legal measures over unpaid rent arrears, which led the case to the legal courts.
The legal representative of Mr Dockrell informed the court in July that the existing proceedings could be dismissed, as creditors had consented to a rescue strategy. This arrangement would result in unsecured creditors recovering merely 10 per cent of their outstanding claims. The issue was subsequently postponed to a later date in September.
Additionally, Dublin entrepreneur Brian Lee’s Freshly Chopped chain was recently taken over by Knightbridge after several outlets fell into Scarp and subsequently entered into examinership earlier this year. Mr Lee has continued to be part of the group, serving as a brand representative and holding a minor share.