H.I.G. Capital has made an investment in Creme Mel Sorvetes, a Brazilian ice cream company. The current shareholders of Creme Mel Sorvetes, Antonio Santos and Group Odilon Santos, will remain shareholders in the company.
Creme Mel is the largest ice cream producer in the Mid-West of Brazil. The company has over 900 employees and sells ice cream in 9 Brazilian states. The company was founded in 1987 by the Antônio Santos and is headquartered in Goiás, Brazil (www.crememel.com.br).
H.I.G.’s investment will be used to expand production capacity with the construction of a new plant and will provide capital for a faster expansion throughout Brazil.
“We are very pleased to have the opportunity to help Creme Mel’s management team continue its tremendous success story of rapid growth. Creme Mel produces top-of-class products and is very well positioned to expand its sales throughout Brazil. With a team of skilled and seasoned professionals already in place, we will work together with management to bring additional talent needed to support the company’s growth,” said Fernando Marques Oliveira, Managing Director and Head of H.I.G. Brazil.
H.I.G. Capital specializes in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies and invests in management-led buyouts and recapitalizations of manufacturing or service businesses. H.I.G. Capital has more than $13 billion of capital under management. The firm was founded in 1993 and is based in Miami with additional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, San Francisco, London, Hamburg, Madrid, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro (www.higcapital.com).
“We are very excited to have H.I.G. as a partner. Their ability and experience in helping companies grow all over the world will help accelerate the expansion of Creme Mel into new markets. We’ll be able to take Creme Mel ice creams to even more clients, always keeping our high quality standards,” said Mr. Santos.
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-19-13
