Fortune International, a distributor of seafood and other food products and a portfolio company of Investcorp, has acquired Neesvig’s.
Neesvig’s is a processor and distributor of both seafood and meat with a fulfillment facility and headquarters near Madison, Wisconsin. The company also operates Empire Fish, a Wauwatosa (near Milwaukee) based retail store.
Neesvig’s was founded in 1913 and owned by CEO Jim Meyer and Margaret Meyer since 1988. “Margaret and I could not have selected a better partner than Fortune Fish to carry on the proud history of Neesvig’s,” said Mr. Meyer.
Fortune was acquired by Investcorp in February 2020. The company distributes more than 12,000 SKUs of fresh and frozen seafood, and other gourmet foods to white-tablecloth restaurants, private clubs, grocery stores, hotels, and gourmet retail stores primarily across the Midwest. According to the company, it is one of the largest seafood and specialty food distributors in the US with 370 employees and distribution facilities in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri (2), Mississippi and Alabama (2). Fortune is headquartered near Chicago in Bensenville, Illinois.
The buy of Neesvig’s expands Fortune’s distribution reach into the upper Midwest and provides the company with its first designated meat processing facility and a state-of-the-art fulfillment operation specializing in direct-to-consumer e-commerce fulfillment services.
“We are excited to strengthen our meat program with our own processing facility and continue to grow the fulfillment operation with additional locations,” said Sean O’Scannlain, Fortune’s president & CEO.
Fortune was founded in 2001 by Mr. O’Scannlain. Earlier he was the president of The Plitt Company, a Chicago-based seafood distributor, from 1995 to 2001, and executive vice president of Chicago Fish House, also a Chicago-based seafood distributor, from 1992 to 1995.
The acquisition of Neesvig’s is Fortune’s ninth and largest transaction since launching its acquisition strategy in 2012. Fortune’s previous acquisitions include JDY Gourmet in 2012, Chef Martin Old World Butcher Shop in 2014, Coastal Seafoods in 2016, Morey’s Seafood International of Missouri in April of 2019, Classic Provisions in June of 2019, Jubilee Seafoods in July of 2019, Seattle Fish of Missouri in January of 2020 and EuroGourmet in March of 2020.
Investcorp is active in alternative investments including private equity, real estate, and credit management. Since founding in 1982, Investcorp has closed more than 195 private equity transactions across a range of sectors including retail and consumer products, technology, business services and industrials. Investcorp, with $31 billion of assets under management, has more than 450 employees with offices in New York, London, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, Mumbai and Singapore.
© 2020 Private Equity Professional | December 1, 2020
