Truelink Acquires Lyons Magnus from Paine Schwartz

Truelink Capital has acquired Lyons Magnus, a formulator of specialty ingredients, beverage bases, and healthcare nutrition products for foodservice customers, from Paine Schwartz Partners, marking the second platform investment for Truelink’s $2.0 billion Fund II.

Fresno, California-headquartered Lyons Magnus develops and manufactures a portfolio of ingredients and finished beverage and nutrition products for B2B customers that operate in the coffeehouse, quick-service restaurant, foodservice, and healthcare end-markets. The company’s catalog spans syrups and sauces, beverage bases and concentrates, smoothie and refresher bases, and specialty healthcare nutrition products.Lyons’ capabilities extend from product formulation and pilot production through full-scale commercialization, allowing customers to take a new product from concept to market through a single supplier. The company operates four manufacturing facilities and two distribution centers, providing the capacity and national reach to support large customers and growing demand in the foodservice beverage and nutrition markets.

Lyons Magnus traces its roots to 1852 and was acquired by the Smittcamp family in 1971. The Smittcamps moved the company from San Francisco to Fresno, where Bob Smittcamp led it for more than four decades. The family’s agribusiness roots began with a 200-acre peach farm purchased by Earl and Muriel Smittcamp shortly after World War II.

Paine Schwartz invested in the company in November 2017 and subsequently completed several add-on acquisitions: TRU Aseptics, Phillips Syrups & Sauces, and the operations and brands of Hormel Health Labs, which became part of the newly formed Lyons Health Labs.

Lyons Magnus is led by CEO Jim Davis. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Truelink as we enter this exciting next chapter for Lyons Magnus,” said Mr. Davis. “Truelink shares our commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and delivering best-in-class products to our customers. With their support and resources, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the significant momentum in our end markets and continue building on the strong foundation we have established over the past century.”

The specialty food ingredients category is large and steadily growing. The U.S. market generated roughly $14.5 billion in revenue in 2025 and is projected to reach about $20.4 billion by 2033, a compound annual rate near 4.2%, according to Grand View Research; other estimates size the U.S. market higher still, around $22.1 billion in 2025. Beverages account for the biggest share of demand, propelled by consumer appetite for functional and better-for-you drinks and by the continued shift toward away-from-home and clean-label consumption — the currents Truelink is buying into.

“Lyons is a well-established business with a market-leading position in the attractive and growing specialty ingredients category,” said Todd Golditch, a co-founder and managing partner at Truelink. “The company is well positioned to benefit from the increasing importance of beverage innovation in the away-from-home category and growing demand for healthcare and nutrition solutions, and our strategic intent will be to drive Lyons’ growth via both commercial organic initiatives and the execution of strategic M&A add-ons. We are excited to partner with CEO Jim Davis and the rest of the Lyons team to build on the company’s strong foundation and next phase of growth.”

Truelink Capital is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm founded in 2022 by Todd Golditch and Luke Myers, both former managing directors at Platinum Equity, that invests across the industrials and tech-enabled services sectors, pairing sector experience with an operationally focused, partnership-driven strategy. In March 2026, the firm closed its oversubscribed Fund II at a $2.0 billion hard cap — above a $1.5 billion target and raised in under three months — more than double its $950 million Fund I. Lyons Magnus is the second platform investment for Fund II.

Paine Schwartz makes control investments of $100 million to $300 million in companies with EBITDA from $10 million to $100 million. The firm makes investments in the food and agribusiness sectors, with a specific interest in productivity and sustainability. In September 2023, Paine Schwartz held a final close of its sixth fund, Paine Schwartz Food Chain Fund VI LP, with an above-target $1.7 billion of capital commitments. Paine Schwartz was founded in 2006 by Dexter Paine and Kevin Schwartz and has offices in New York City and San Mateo, California.

Stifel was the financial advisor to Truelink Capital, and Evercore and William Blair were the financial advisors to Lyons Magnus.