RLJ Equity Partners and SJ Partners have acquired Native Maine Produce and Specialty Foods, Maine’s largest fresh foodservice distributor.
Native Maine Produce & Specialty Foods provides its foodservice customers with more than 3,000 products including fruits and vegetables, dairy, cheese, meats, and seafood. The company is based in Westbrook, ME (www.nativeme.com).
“We are thrilled to welcome SJ Partners and RLJ to the Native Maine family. We have had a multi-year relationship with SJ Partners and believe their industry knowledge and previous growth by acquisition success are a great fit,” said Joe Pizzo, the owner of Native Maine who will continue as a shareholder of the company and will run the business in partnership with the new owners.
“We think Joe and his team have built a solid franchise and look forward to partnering together,” said SJ Partners CEO Scott Johnson. “Native Maine has an impressive roster of over 1,000 clients with many relationships that date over 10 years, who value its high level of service as well as its deep and impressive product selection – especially its local New England produce offerings. We are eager to work together to create New England’s top fresh foodservice distributor.”
SJ Partners invests in companies with EBITDA of $2 million to $10 million and revenues of $10 million to $200 million. Sectors of interest include consumer products companies (personal care, food, and sporting goods) and service companies (business, information, aerospace and government). SJ Partners was founded by Scott Johnson in 2001 and is based in New York (www.sjpartners.com).
“We invest in industry leading companies and Native Maine is a leader in its sector and we are pleased to become its partner and support its future growth,” said Jerry Johnson, a Managing Director with RLJ Equity Partners.
RLJ Equity Partners invests from $15 million to $30 million in companies valued between $50 million and $250 million. Target companies will have operating profits greater than $7 million and operating margins greater than 10%. Sectors of interest include aerospace & defense; auto & transportation; business services; consumer retail; general industrial; and media & telecom. RLJ Equity Partners was founded in 2006 by Robert Johnson in partnership with The Carlyle Group. The firm is headquartered in Bethesda, MD (www.rljequitypartners.com).
Triangle Capital (www.tcap.com) provided a senior term loan, revolving line of credit, and equity co-investment to support this transaction.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | January 25, 2017
