C.H. Guenther & Son, a portfolio company of Pritzker Private Capital, has acquired Wback GmbH.
Wback is a supplier of hamburger and hotdog buns to quick-service restaurants and food retailers throughout Germany and surrounding countries across Europe.
The company, led by Managing Director Matthias Geißler, has two facilities in Germany and is headquartered in Bönen (www.Wback.de).
C.H. Guenther & Son (CHG) manufactures and markets a wide variety of grain-based and seasoning products, including artisan breads, buns, rolls, biscuits, gravy mixes, frozen appetizers, spices and desserts. Company-owned brand names include Pioneer gravies, seasonings and baking products; Morrison mixes; Tribeca artisan breads; Sun-Bird Asian seasonings; Cuisine Adventure frozen appetizers and snack products; and White Wings tortilla mixes. CHG’s products are sold globally to the foodservice, quick serve restaurant, club and retail sectors. CHG is led by CEO Dale Tremblay and is headquartered in San Antonio (www.chg.com).
“Matthias and the entire Wback team have done a tremendous job growing Wback into a market-leading bun producer,” said Mr. Tremblay. “They have remained focused on the customer with a commitment to product quality. We look forward to continuing to invest in the European market and providing value for customers.”
With the acquisition of Wback, CHG now has more than 3,500 employees in 22 food manufacturing locations in the US, Canada and Western Europe. CHG was founded in 1851 by German immigrant Carl Hilmar Guenther and was acquired by Pritzker Private Capital from the Guenther family in April 2018. “CHG has consistently proven their ability to grow, both organically and through acquisition,” said Chris Trick, a principal at Pritzker Private Capital. “We are pleased to welcome the Wback team to CHG.”
Pritzker Private Capital (PPC) acquires North America-based middle-market companies that have enterprise values between $100 million and $750 million and EBITDA in excess of $15 million. Sectors of interest include manufactured products, services and healthcare. The firm is led by Tony Pritzker and the former investment and operating professionals of Pritzker Group Private Capital. In July 2018, PPC held a final closing of PPC Fund II LP at its hard cap of $1.8 billion. The firm has offices in Chicago and Los Angeles (www.PPCPartners.com).
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | February 4, 2019
Stellex Capital Management has acquired Paragon Metals, a maker of machined components used in the automotive, heavy truck and general industrial markets.
Stellex and Mr. Swift have a history of working together to buy, build and operate automotive suppliers. Stellex founders Ray Whiteman and Mike Stewart worked with Mr. Swift when he was the CEO of Diversified Machine, a portfolio company of the Carlyle Group from 2005 to 2011. “We are thrilled to partner with Bruce Swift again through this transaction,” said Mr. Stewart. “Together with David Smith, Paragon’s vice president of sales, this partnership will enable Paragon to leverage its current customer base and achieve multiple growth opportunities. We intend to invest a significant amount of capital in Paragon to expand the business both organically and through acquisitions in the automotive supplier industry.”
Stellex invests from $25 million to $100 million in United States or Europe-based companies with enterprise values from $50 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include automotive, aerospace, building products, defense, industrial equipment, metal fabrication and transportation.
“We are tremendously excited about the acquisition of Paragon,” said David Waxman, a managing director at Stellex. “Paragon is a leader in the automotive machining space and one of the few companies capable of producing large volumes of precision parts, with challenging engineering and design and build timelines.”
TSG Consumer Partners has closed its eighth fund, TSG8 LP and TSG8 Parallel LP (the “Fund”), with an oversubscribed $4 billion of limited partner capital commitments.
Belcan, a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners since June 2015, has acquired Sitec Design and Sitec Recruitment (together “Sitec”).
Belcan is a provider of engineering, supply chain, technical recruiting, and IT services to companies that operate in the aerospace, defense, automotive, industrial, and government sectors. The company is led by CEO Lance Kwasniewski and has more than 6,000 employees in 49 locations, including 26 engineering design centers and 23 technical services locations. Belcan is headquartered in Cincinnati (
AEI invests in the aerospace & defense, power generation and specialty industrial sectors with a specific focus on technical manufacturing, distribution and supply chain management, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) and industrial service-based businesses. Typical company targets will have from $50 million to $500 million of revenue. The firm is headquartered in Boca Raton (
