Gryphon Investors will sell its portfolio company Flagstone Foods to TreeHouse Foods in a transaction valued at $860 million.
Flagstone Foods is a providers of branded and private-label healthy snacks to major retailers across North America in the multi-billion dollar healthy snacks sector. The company was formed in November 2010 when Gryphon simultaneously acquired two independent companies, Ann’s House of Nuts®, the largest private-label manufacturer and marketer of trail mix and snack nuts in the world, and American Importing Company® (Amport Foods), the largest private-label manufacturer and marketer of dried fruits, to create the leading healthy snacks manufacturer in the country. The comany is based in Saint Paul, MN (www.flagstonefoods.com).
TreeHouse Foods is a multinational food processing company specializing in producing private label packaged foods. Created in 2005 and consisting entirely of acquisitions in 2010 the company had sales of $2 billion and employed over 4000 people at 20 facilities, The comapny is located in Oak Brook, IL (www.treehousefoods.com).
We are delighted to have executed on our original vision of building a truly premier company in the rapidly growing healthy snacks sector. The strategic combination of Ann’s and Amport formed a vehicle for tremendous value creation under the direction of Gryphon’s proactively-recruited management team,” said David Andrews, Gryphon’s CEO and Managing Partner.
Keith Stimson, Gryphon Partner, added, “We are quite happy with the outcome of this transaction. TreeHouse has the resources and expertise to help continue Flagstone’s path of growth into new product categories and geographic markets. Gryphon achieved our goal of completing a sale that positions Flagstone for continued success, while also generating attractive returns for our limited partners and coinvestors in this investment, including the respective founders of Ann’s and Amport.”
Paul Lapadat, the CEO of Flagstone, said, “Consistent with their strategy for Flagstone in recruiting me, Gryphon has been an exceptionally supportive partner, while delivering invaluable financial and operational guidance as we built the business. Our management team looks forward to utilizing the resources and support of TreeHouse to maintain our momentum and continue our growth strategies as a leading healthy snacking partner for major retailers.”
Gryphon Investors makes leveraged acquisitions and growth investments in middle-market companies. The firm invests from $35 million to $100 million of capital in companies with sales ranging from $50 million to $250 million. Sectors of interest include business services, consumer and retail, automotive, chemical, general manufacturing, health care and hotels. The firm is based in San Francisco (www.gryphoninvestors.com).
Moelis & Company, Houlihan Lokey Capital, and BMO Capital Markets acted as advisors to Gryphon, and Kirkland & Ellis served as company counsel on the transaction. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-1-14
