GE Antares was the administrative agent on a $66 million senior secured credit facility to support the acquisition of Gold Star Foods, a food distributor to K-12 schools and a portfolio company of Prospect Partners, by Castle Harlan. Castle Harlan invested in Gold Star through its fifth fund, Castle Harlan Partners V.
“GE Antares is a long-term partner to Castle Harlan. Their constructive financing structure and ability to move quickly through every stage of the deal process made them an excellent financing partner,” said Bill Pruellage, Co-President of Castle Harlan.
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).
“I’m excited to be financing another successful acquisition by Castle Harlan,” said Doug Cannaliato, managing director of GE Antares, “In partnership with management, Castle Harlan will enable Gold Star Foods to continue to grow, and we look forward to helping finance this growth.”
GE Antares is a unit of GE Capital with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Specializing in the middle market, GE Antares is a “one-stop” source for GE’s lending and other services to middle market private equity sponsors (www.geantares.com).
Castle Harlan makes control investments in 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 • 4-25-14
