Palladium Equity Partners has agreed to sell GoodWest Industries, a provider of shelf-stable food products, to Sunny Sky Products, a portfolio company of The Jordan Company. This transaction does not include GoodWest’s Jordan’s Skinny Mixes division which is being retained by Palladium.
GoodWest is a manufacturer and supplier of low-acid aseptic beverages, primarily shelf-stable and bag-in-box coffee creamers, cold brews, and iced coffees that are dispensed through equipment manufactured by the company. GoodWest has over 20,000 dispensers in operation in 50 states and over 20 countries. GoodWest’s customers include operators of cafeterias, convenience stores, buffets, food service companies and coffee shops.
“Palladium has been an excellent partner to GoodWest and has been instrumental in transforming a founder-owned business into a world-class enterprise,” said CEO Quenten Wentworth. “We thank them for their partnership and their role as excellent stewards of our business over the past several years, including through the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.”
GoodWest was founded in 1994 by Bill Goodwin and is headquartered northwest of Philadelphia in Douglassville, Pennsylvania. Palladium acquired GoodWest in August 2015.
“We are very pleased with the outcome of our investment in GoodWest, which represents yet another good example of how Palladium helps successfully transform family and founder-owned businesses to help achieve their full potential,” said Caleb Clark, a partner at Palladium. “Since acquiring the company, GoodWest has experienced rapid growth across its core products, and entered new markets with innovative, on-trend product development.”
Jordan’s Skinny Mixes, a division of GoodWest that is being retained by Palladium, is a Clearwater, Florida-headquartered provider of branded low-calorie coffee syrups and flavorings, whipped foam toppings, and beverage mixes. Skinny Mixes are sold in over 13,000 specialty retail locations across the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe.
GoodWest acquired Jordan’s Skinny Mixes in May 2019 and since the acquisition has recorded a revenue CAGR of more than 50%.
“This transaction has an additional benefit for Palladium in that it has provided us with the opportunity to retain ownership of the Jordan’s Skinny Mixes division,” said Scott Kirschner, a principal at Palladium. “Skinny Mixes is an outstanding business, and we are very excited to partner with their talented team, including founder Jordan Engelhardt, to continue to drive growth and deliver value for their customers and our investors.”
The Jordan Company acquired Sunny Sky Products, a portfolio company of Seidler Equity Partners, in September 2021. Today, Sunny Sky is a producer and supplier of dispensed beverage products to the convenience store and foodservice sectors. The company’s products include specialty coffee and hot chocolates, fountain drinks, slushies, sweeteners, smoothies, energy drinks and teas. Houston-headquartered Sunny Sky, led by CEO Ashley Edens, has more than 200 employees and operates an additional facility near Chicago in Tinley Park, Illinois.
The Jordan Company is a middle-market private equity firm that invests in a range of industries, including industrials, transportation and logistics, healthcare, consumer, telecom, technology, and utilities. The firm was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in New York City with an additional office in Chicago.
New York City-based Palladium invests from $50 million to $150 million of equity in companies that have $10 million to $75 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include consumer, services, industrials and healthcare, and Palladium specializes in investing in companies that operate in the US Hispanic market. Since its founding in 1997, Palladium has made 38 platform investments and 157 add-on acquisitions.
Lincoln International was the financial advisor to GoodWest on this transaction which is expected to close by the end of 2022.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | October 19, 2022
