Integrity Nutraceuticals, a portfolio company of H.I.G. Growth Partners acquired in January 2014, has acquired Cornerstone Research and Development, a portfolio company of Sun Capital Partners.
“We are thrilled to combine our resources with Integrity,” said Mike Beardall, President of the combined company. “This is great news for our customers and changes the game for nutritional supplement manufacturing. With expanded capacity, enhanced capabilities, and new product development resources, we will continue to build on Cornerstone’s strong heritage of providing best-in-class services to our customers.”
Integrity Nutraceuticals, acquired by H.I.G. in January 2014, provides product development and value-added manufacturing services to branded nutritional supplement companies. Integrity develops, produces, and packages a range of powder and capsule products for a number of industry leaders, with particular expertise in sports nutrition. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Spring Hill, TN (www.integritynutmfg.com).
Cornerstone, acquired by Sun Capital in 2012, develops, produces, and packages a range of capsule, tablet, and powder products for a variety of customers in the vitamin, mineral, and supplement industry. The company was founded in 1992 and is based in Ogden, UT (www.crdius.com).
According to Integrity and Cornerstone, the merger – in combination with a capital investment program – will create world-class formulation, product development and production capabilities across 600,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
“This is great news for our customers and changes the game for nutritional supplement manufacturing. With expanded capacity, enhanced capabilities, and new product development resources, we will continue to build on Cornerstone’s strong heritage of providing best-in-class services to our customers,” said Peter Miller, CEO of the combined company.
“This is a bellwether event in the evolution of the nutrition industry,” said board member Greg Horn, an experienced nutrition executive who has previously served as the CEO of both General Nutrition Centers and Garden of Life. “Compliance and enforcement have raised the bar for manufacturers, and this merger creates a formidable player with a critical mass of scale and capabilities in an otherwise fragmented segment of the market. It will be a one-stop shop for innovators in nutrition.”
H.I.G. Growth Partners is the growth capital investment affiliate of H.I.G. Capital. H.I.G. Growth Partners makes majority and minority equity investments of $5 million to $30 million in growth-oriented businesses with revenues of $10 million to $100 million. The firm invests across all industries but focuses on certain high-growth sectors where the team has in-house expertise such as healthcare, technology, internet & media, consumer products and technology-enabled financial and business services (www.higgrowth.com).
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-29-14
