Kent-based supplier of vertically-grown leafy salads was sold before Christmas to a new private equity subsidiary, with new documents revealing company’s financial performance
Vertical farm GrowUp made losses of almost £4mn in the months before going into administration and consequent acquisition.
In the nine months to September 2025, the company achieved sales of £2.7mn, according to new documents, largely relating to management charges for the provision of services to parent company GrowUp Farms Limited.
This resulted in EBITDA losses of £2.8mn and a net loss of £3.7mn for the nine months to September 2025.
The new documents, released on Companies House last week, also reveal the Kent-based business was acquired for £1.85mn in a pre-packaged administration deal by private equity firm Sun Capital.
The buyer is a newly incorporated company run by the company’s former CEO, Marcus Whately.
GrowUp Farms, which supplied the equivalent of 1,000 acres of produce to major retailers including via its brand Unbeleafable, appointed administrators Interpath on 16 December 2025, when no further capital to build or scale the business was obtained.
Administrators said this was down to a challenging investment landscape in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).
The sale included shareholding interest in the company’s farms, as well as associated brand, intellectual property and other assets, to Sycamore Midco 2 Limited, a company newly incorporated by Sun Capital.
Documents filed on Companies House last week show Whately has been appointed as a director of Sycamore Midco 2.
“The investment landscape within controlled environment agriculture has been difficult, with notable challenges in the sector in the UK,” said joint administrator, Rick Harrison.
“This meant that an equity raise for GrowUp, as it built scale and profitability, was difficult. Against this backdrop, we are pleased to have secured a transaction that places GrowUp Farms under new ownership and with fresh investment,” he said.
As part of the deal, 30 staff were made redundant, while 12 were transferred to the buyer. Operations and 83 existing employees were retained within the GrowUp business.
“GrowUp Farms has been held up as one of the most credible vertical farming operations in the world, alongside other industry leaders in Europe and the US,” said Interpath director and food and drink lead, Thomas Swiers.
“The sale of the farming operation underlines that and is supported by UK retailers’ desire to build more resilience into their supply chains that comes from onshoring food production. We wish the business all the best for the future as it takes on fresh capital to further scale and develop its offering.”
