Castle Harlan Acquires Gold Star from Prospect
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Castle Harlan Acquires Gold Star from Prospect

goldstar nf1Castle Harlan has acquired Gold Star Foods, a food distributor to K-12 schools and a portfolio company of Prospect Partners.  Castle Harlan invested in Gold Star through its fifth fund, Castle Harlan Partners V.  Prospect Partners acquired Gold Star in October 2007.

pruellage nf1“Gold Star is a proven leader in the stable and moderately growing school food distribution market, and it promotes healthy nutritional meals to its customers,” said Bill Pruellage, Co-President of Castle Harlan.  Gold Star has the scale to acquire smaller competitors in a fragmented market, as well as to expand into newer territories, such as Northern California and other Western states, additional product lines and new end-markets.”

Gold Star Foods is a food distributor to K-12 schools in California, Arizona and Nevada. The company serves 380 school districts comprised of more than 3,500 schools, enabling them to provide students meals through federal and state programs for breakfasts and lunches that include program-approved healthy ingredients.  Gold Star purchases products from more than 600 food manufacturers and farms and sells over 6,000 products of fresh bread and produce, as well as refrigerated, frozen and dry menu items. The company is headquartered near Los Angeles in Ontario, CA (www.goldstarfoods.com).

joyce nf1“There are many trends favorable to the school food-service distribution industry, including increasing awareness of the importance of nutrition in school breakfasts and lunches, continued population growth and increasing federal funding for programs supporting better nutrition in school meals,” said Joyce Demonteverde Schnoedl, Vice President of Castle Harlan.

Castle Harlan invests in controlling interests in the buyout and development of middle-market companies in North America, Europe and, together with CHAMP Private Equity, in Australia. Since its inception, Castle Harlan has invested in more than 54 companies representing more than $11 billion in enterprise value. The firm was founded in 1987 and is based in New York (www.castleharlan.com).

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-15-14

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