Castanea Partners has made an investment in Yasso, a brand of Greek frozen yogurt desserts.
Yasso products include stick bars, sandwiches, and pints. The company distributes its products nationwide through conventional grocery stores, as well as the natural, club and mass channels. Yasso was founded in 2009 by Amanda Klane and Drew Harrington and is headquartered in Quincy, MA (www.yasso.com).
“We started Yasso because we couldn’t find desserts we liked that delivered great taste and superb ingredients. We never dreamed we could build a brand that would achieve this level of success. Yasso was at a stage where we knew that the company would benefit from additional resources and investment. We set out to find a partner who would allow us to maintain our independence and who shares our vision and values,” said Drew Harrington, Co-CEO of Yasso.
“Amanda and Drew have created a differentiated product that has generated broad consumer appeal,” said Juan Marcos Hill, a Partner at Castanea. “Yasso’s nutritional profile, simple ingredients and great tasting product fill a market void between high calorie, overly indulgent products and artificial tasting diet brands.”
Castanea Partners invests from $15 million to $150 million of equity in companies that operate in branded consumer products and services, including companies in lifestyle apparel and accessories, beauty and personal care, food and beverage, and outdoor and leisure. The firm is currently investing from its $600 million fourth fund that seeks companies with enterprise values up to $250 million. Castanea is headquartered near Boston in Newton, MA (www.castaneapartners.com).
“Castanea’s valuable insight and operating experience building long-lasting consumer brands will support Yasso’s accelerating growth and help our team respond to the many attractive opportunities in the frozen desserts segment,” said Amanda Klane, Co-CEO of Yasso.
Piper Jaffray was the financial advisor to Yasso on this transaction.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | January 16, 2018
