Lake Pacific has sold Maxi Holdings, a maker and seller of chicken products that are sold to the grocery, mass market, and club retailers in the US and Canada, to Altamont Capital Partners.
Maxi’s frozen chicken products include sticks, patties, tenders, and nuggets that are marketed under the Yummy brand and are available in more than 25,000 retail outlets. The company’s Dino Buddies, a popular product aimed at families with young children, are the top selling children’s chicken nugget in the US. The company is based near Montreal in Saint-Lin–Laurentides (www.maxi.com) and the company’s plant and offices will remain in Saint-Lin-Laurentides under Altamont ownership.
In October 2002, Lake Pacific invested in Maxi Holdings (then Maxi Poultry Co. Ltd.) to help the company expand manufacturing capacity and reposition the company as a branded products maker. Maxi was founded in 1970 by Joseph Friedmann and began automated production of its chicken products in 1995.
“During our ownership of Maxi, the company achieved dramatic growth, added capacity, shifted away from foodservice and industrial markets, built well-known brands and greatly expanded retail distribution. Today, its customers include a majority of the top grocery retailers, club wholesalers and mass merchants in North America,” said William Voss, Managing Director of Lake Pacific.
Lake Pacific invests in companies with $25 million to $250 million in sales that are active in the food, beverage, consumer products, consumer services, distribution, packaging, and business services sectors. The firm was founded in 2000 by William Voss and is headquartered in Chicago (www.lakepacific.com).
Altamont Capital Partners, the buyer of Maxi, invests in middle-market businesses with specific interest in the financial services, government services, consumer/retail, industrials and healthcare sectors. Altamont was formed in 2010 by Jesse Rogers, Randall Eason and Keoni Schwartz who previously worked together at Golden Gate Capital and Bain & Company. The firm has more than $2 billion of capital under management and is based in Palo Alto (www.altamontcapital.com).
Tim Bruer, an Altamont operating partner and CEO of Tall Tree Foods (an Altamont portfolio company), will lead the existing management team of Maxi as Executive Chairman to drive geographic growth across the US and the development of new products. Managing Director Casey Lynch led the transaction for Altamont.
Financing for the acquisition was provided by Royal Bank of Canada, National Bank of Canada and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Houlihan Lokey was the financial advisor to Maxi Holdings.
© 2016 Private Equity Professional | December 21, 2016