SK Capital Partners has agreed to acquire J&K Ingredients, a maker and supplier of food and beverage ingredients and a portfolio company of CORE Industrial Partners. CORE acquired J&K Ingredients in October 2020 from privately held Sausville Foods.
J&K’s bakery ingredients total more than 400 SKUs in 13 categories including bread and roll bases, dough conditioners, milk replacers, flavors, emulsions and stabilizers. J&K’s customers include large bakery companies, commercial bakeries, and bakery product wholesalers and distributors. The company’s products have FDA, Halal, Kosher, FSSC 22000 (Foundation for Food Safety Certification) and organic certifications.

J&K developed the bakery industry’s first natural mold inhibitor more than four decades ago. Mold inhibitors are used in the baking industry to enhance taste, texture, aroma, consistency, and shelf life of food products. Mold inhibitors can be split into two categories – synthetic and natural – and the food industry is moving increasingly towards natural mold inhibitors to allow for simpler and cleaner labels on food products.
J&K’s product lines include Bred-Mate, a natural mold inhibitor that inhibits mold growth in sliced bread; and SOR-Mate, a fruit-based natural mold inhibitor used as an alternative to chemical preservatives such as sorbic acid or potassium sorbate.

J&K, led by CEO Ricardo Alvarez, was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Paterson, New Jersey.
“It has been a pleasure to partner with the CORE and J&K teams to continue to build upon J&K’s legacy of success,” said Mr. Alvarez. “We developed and executed our strategic growth plan to scale the business, which was completed during a dynamic operating environment. J&K strives to consistently deliver innovative and trusted solutions to our customers, and we have and will continue to deliver on this promise. The J&K team has worked incredibly hard and remains excited about the future opportunities for the business.”
“This success story highlights CORE’s experience in identifying and investing into businesses to help them achieve their next stage of growth,” said John May, the managing partner of CORE. “Alongside Ric and the rest of the talented J&K management team, we have executed our operating playbook to create meaningful value while putting J&K on a path for continued future growth.”
“As a differentiated provider of high value solutions to its customers, J&K represents a business with which we seek to partner,” said Dan Lory, a principal at SK Capital. “We are excited to leverage our expertise in the food ingredient industry and collaborate with J&K to usher in the next phase of growth, building an attractive ingredients platform driven by a proactive commercial strategy and recognized for its comprehensive offering.”
“Under its experienced leadership team which prioritizes compliance, custom solutions, and maximizing value for customers, we believe J&K Ingredients will continue to be the premier supplier of natural preservatives in a constantly evolving market,” said Mario Toukan, a managing director at SK Capital. “The company’s deep expertise and focus on innovation, exemplified by the breakthrough and success of SOR-Mate, not only makes it an essential partner to the bakery market, but opens its doors for customers seeking clean label solutions across the food and beverage industry.”
SK Capital invests in the specialty materials, chemicals, and pharmaceutical sectors and typically invests equity of $100 million to $200 million in each portfolio company. In February 2019, the firm held a final closing of SK Capital Partners Fund V LP with total capital of $2.1 billion. SK Capital is currently raising its sixth fund with a $2.75 billion target and a $3.5 billion hardcap. SK Capital was co-founded by Barry Siadat and Jamshid Keynejad and is based in New York City.
“SK Capital’s history of success in the food and beverage and broader ingredients industry and its focus on accelerating growth make them an ideal partner for J&K,” said Mr. Alvarez. “Most importantly, they share our belief that J&K is uniquely positioned for the long term to capitalize on the industry-wide movement to clean label products and are committed to investing in its growth. We look forward to working together to bring ‘better for you’ products to consumers.”
Chicago-based CORE makes control equity investments of up to $100 million in North America-based companies with revenues of up to $200 million and EBITDA of up to $20 million. Sectors of interest include a range of specialty verticals within the manufacturing and industrial technology sectors.
Harris Williams was the financial advisor to J&K and CORE on this transaction. Debt financing for the acquisition of J&K will be provided by KeyBanc Capital Markets, Kayne Anderson Private Credit, and Benefit Street Partners.
This transaction is expected to close by the end of the fourth quarter.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | October 13, 2023