New Water Capital has made an investment in Pegasus Foods, a contract manufacturer of frozen appetizers and snacks.
Pegasus’ products include frozen dough, appetizers, bakery and dessert items that are sold to both retail and foodservice customers. The company has a 55,000 sq. ft. facility in Los Angeles with organic, gluten-free and kosher capabilities. Pegasus was founded in 1998 by Jim Zaferis and Van Ambatielos (www.pegasusfoodsinc.com).
The investment from New Water provides growth capital to Pegasus to support the company’s recent expansion into a second manufacturing plant, a 135,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility located near Dallas in Rockwall, TX. The new facility in Rockwall allows Pegasus to meet both growing demand from new customers and to better serve its existing markets.
“Pegasus Foods’ strengths include its ability to satisfy the quality and safety specifications of the largest and most demanding consumer packaged goods companies and manufacture an extremely diverse product line, while still providing the flexibility to customize packaging, labeling and product selection to meet all of its customers’ needs,” said Jason Neimark, a Partner at New Water Capital. “New Water looks forward to partnering with management as the company scales its manufacturing capacity and takes advantage of significant opportunities that have been presented to Pegasus in the frozen food contract manufacturing industry.”
“We at Pegasus look forward to our partnership with New Water, which will allow us to meet the growing demand for high-quality, high-convenience frozen foods,” said Mr. Zaferis. “As highly regarded partners with expertise in the food manufacturing sector, the fact New Water partnered with us demonstrates their confidence in Pegasus and our strategy for growth.”
The Pegasus investment is New Water Capital’s eighth since the company’s launch in fall 2014 and its second in the food manufacturing space. In April 2017, New Water acquired Denver-based Custom Made Meals, a manufacturer of oven-ready entrees and appetizers sold in more than 6,000 retail grocery locations nationwide (www.custommademeals.com).
New Water invests in lower middle market companies with revenues between $30 and $300 million. Sectors of interest include consumer products, retail, and industrial manufacturing & services. The firm closed its first private equity fund at the hard cap of $406 million in July 2015. New Water was founded in September 2014 and is based in Boca Raton (www.newwatercap.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 20, 2018
