Swander Pace Capital, Jefferson Capital Partners, and United Natural Foods have announced the formation of a new platform, Branch Brook Holdings, to invest in organic and natural consumer product companies based in North America. Branch Brook will target privately-held companies in food, beverage, household products, personal care, pet food, ethnic products, and supplements segments.
The companies acquired by Branch Brook will operate independently from United Natural Foods but will benefit from access to its distribution network and services. In addition, the partnership with Swander Pace Capital and Jefferson Capital Partners will bring best practices and contacts through their histories of growing and developing companies in the consumer sector.
United Natural Foods is a distributor of natural, organic, and specialty food products. The company has more than 60,000 SKU’s and supplies over 17,000 customers throughout North America. Customers include supernatural chains, independent natural product retailers, conventional supermarkets and food service customers. The company is based in Providence, RI (www.unfi.com). Swander Pace Capital invests in middle-market consumer products companies including branded and non-branded, manufacturers, marketers, and distributors that sell through a range of retail and institutional channels. The firm generally targets companies up to $300 million in revenues. Past and current investments in the organic and natural products industry include Liberté Brand Products, Applegate Farms, Merrick/Castor & Pollux Pet Foods, Oregon Chai, Ethnic Gourmet, and Eagle Pack Pet Foods. Swander Pace manages over $1 billion in equity capital and has offices in San Francisco, CA and Bedminster, NJ (www.spcap.com).
Jefferson Capital Partners invests in growth financings, management buyouts, and recapitalizations of well managed, rapidly growing companies, primarily in the consumer, business services, education, health care, and selected information technology industries. The firm is based in Richmond, VA (www.jeffersoncapital.com).
