Wind Point Partners has partnered with food executive Milt Liu and management to acquire Pacifica Foods and Stir Foods, two California-based businesses in the custom food manufacturing industry.
Pacifica Foods and Stir Foods are custom manufacturers of soups, sauces, dressings, fresh salsas, and muffin batters for both retail and foodservice customers. Pacifica was founded in 2000 and has two SQF (Safe Quality Food Institute) certified production facilities near Los Angeles in Corona, CA (www.pacificafoods.net).
Stir Foods was founded in 2005 and has two SQF certified production facilities in Orange, CA (www.stirfoods.com). The distance from Corona to Orange is only 22 miles. Pacifica and Stir’s four production facilities will remain open and management from both companies will continue to be involved in the business going forward.
“Pacifica Foods and Stir Foods are leaders in the attractive custom food manufacturing industry,” said Joe Lawler, a Principal at Wind Point. “Our investment will support the strong cultures established by the ongoing ownership and current management teams to continue to deliver strong quality and customer service and grow with our customers. I am also excited about partnering with Milt Liu who brings decades of highly relevant leadership experience in food manufacturing and retail.”
Milt Liu has joined Pacifica Foods and Stir Foods as their new CEO. Prior to partnering with Wind Point on this acquisition, he was President and COO of Chicago-based Flying Food Group from September 2013 to March 2016. Flying Food Group produces meals for over 70 airlines, primarily international carriers, and retailers such as Starbucks. The company has more than $400 million in revenue and 4,000 employees at 18 locations (www.flyingfood.com). Earlier in his career, he held senior executive positions in Target’s grocery business and he was a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Co.
Dave Beré, a Wind Point Executive Advisor Partner and long-time consumer products and foodservice executive, is also joining Pacifica Foods and Stir Foods as non-executive Chairman. Mr. Beré most recently served as Chairman of Nonni’s Foods, a producer of branded artisan baked cookies and specialty snacks, which was sold by Wind Point to Vestar Capital Partners in November 2017.
“I am honored and excited to work with Wind Point and Dave Beré to bring together these two culinary-driven custom food manufacturers,” said Mr. Liu. “The management teams at Pacifica Foods and Stir Foods have created customer-focused organizations with reputations for superior quality, consistency and reliability. I look forward to working with existing management to utilize our complementary product and packaging capabilities, as well as Wind Point’s resources, to better serve existing and new customers.”
Wind Point invests from $30 million to $150 million in companies with revenues from $100 million to $500 million and EBITDAs of at least $10 million. Industries of interest include business services, consumer products and industrial products. Wind Point was founded in 1984 and is based in Chicago. In June 2017, Wind Point held a final closing of its eighth fund, Wind Point Partners VIII, with $985 million of capital commitments. The fund exceeded its initial hard cap of $750 million and marks the largest fund closing in Wind Point’s history (www.wppartners.com).
BMO Harris Bank and Antares Capital led the financing for this transaction.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | December 8, 2017
