Clearlake Capital Group has launched Better For You Holdings, a new platform company to invest in the food and health & wellness sectors.
Joining Clearlake in this effort are senior food industry executives Jason Cohen and Leigh Feuerstein. Messrs. Cohen and Feuerstein are currently co-CEOs of Halen Brands, a company they formed to acquire and develop food brands in the specialty and better-for-you sectors.
As part of this transaction, Clearlake partners José Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali, and principal Arta Tabaee have joined the Board of Directors of Better For You, and have joined Mr. Cohen and Mr. Feuerstein on the Board of Halen Brands.
“Clearlake is excited to devote a focused effort partnering with Halen to pursue on-trend, growth-oriented opportunities in food and other consumer products via our Better For You platform,” said Mr. Tabaee, who leads Clearlake’s efforts in the food and other consumer products and services sectors.
The combination of Clearlake and Halen Brands will allow Better For You to provide both capital and operating expertise including access to its multi-channel sales team, broker networks, marketing and design, operations, and co-packing relationships. “Together with Clearlake, our track record and relationships give us an edge in identifying and supporting high potential brands and concepts, and we pride ourselves on providing the support and historical track record needed to succeed,” said Mr. Cohen.
This is not the first go-round for Clearlake with Mr. Cohen and Mr. Feuerstein. The firm previously partnered with them to invest in World Gourmet Marketing (www.sensibleportions.com) which was sold to Hain Celestial in June 2010; Proven Brands which owns Dippin’ Chips (www.dippinchips.com) and Mrs. Thinster’s Cookie Thins (www.mrsthinsters.com); Chef’s Cut, a producer and marketer of gluten-free jerky (www.chefscutrealjerky.com); and Rex’s Outrageous, a producer of chocolate-based, gluten-free snacks (www.rexsoutrageous.com).
“The Halen Brands management team has a true commitment to innovation and growth in the evolving food and health & wellness sector. We are excited to announce that Clearlake will be making significant investments alongside Jason and Leigh to sponsor brands positioned for rapid growth,” said Mr. Feliciano.
Clearlake Capital Group has over $3.5 billion of assets under management and invests in the following sectors: energy and power; technology, communications and business services; and consumer products and services. The firm was co-founded by Mr. Feliciano and Mr. Eghbali in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles (www.clearlakecapital.com).
Halen Brands is headquartered northwest of New York in Fairfield, NJ (www.halenbrands.com).
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-11-16
