Shoreline Equity Partners has made an investment in Prime Meats, a processor and distributor of protein products.
Prime Meats products include beef, poultry, pork, dairy, seafood, and other specialty products that are sold to independent restaurants, grocery stores, and butcher shops, with a focus on Hispanic and traditional markets across 15 states.
Prime Meats, led by CEO Daniel Arcila, was founded by Norberto Sanchez in 1992 and has grown to over 250 employees serving more than 4,200 customers. The company is headquartered northeast of Atlanta in Duluth, Georgia.
“Shoreline’s knowledge and experience in food distribution is second to none and will allow us to meaningfully expand our operations and footprint across the U.S.,” said Mr. Arcila. “Shoreline shares our vision for the exciting future of Prime Meats, and we are very grateful for the opportunity to partner with their team.”
Mr. Sanchez and the Prime Meats management team will continue to lead the company and maintain a meaningful ownership position in the business in partnership with Shoreline.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Shoreline,” said Mr. Sanchez. “For over 30 years, Prime Meats has been providing the highest quality service and product to our customers, and we are committed to providing the same high-touch service and best-in-class product offering. The future is very bright for Prime Meats in our new partnership with Shoreline.”
“Norberto, Daniel, and the rest of the Prime Meats team have built a phenomenal business, and we are so grateful they selected Shoreline as their partner,” said Mike Hand, the managing partner at Shoreline. “We knew from our first conversation with the team that Prime Meats would be a great fit for Shoreline given the Company’s impressive track record of growth and our experience in food distribution.”
Mr. Hand led the Shoreline transaction team along with Principal Ian Garland, Senior Associate Mike Mancini, and Associate Michael Berry.
“Prime Meats has built an exceptional reputation for providing quality protein to the Hispanic community across the Southeast U.S.,” said Mr. Garland. “We are excited to partner with the Prime Meats team to execute on a multi-faceted growth plan which includes both organic initiatives and add-on acquisitions.”
Shoreline invests up to $100 million per transaction in support of buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate divestitures. Typical target companies will have enterprise values from $50 million to $350 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $25 million. Sectors of interest include specialized manufacturing, value-added distribution, and business and facility services.
In January 2023, Shoreline held an oversubscribed, above target, and hard-cap close of its second fund with $450 million of capital. The firm’s first fund closed in January 2020 with $300 million of capital. Shoreline was founded in March 2019 and is based near Jacksonville in Neptune Beach, Florida.
Deloitte Corporate Finance was the financial advisor to Prime Meats on this transaction, and senior financing was provided by NXT Capital.
© 2024 Private Equity Professional | May 1, 2024
