Western Smokehouse Partners, a portfolio company of AUA Private Equity, has acquired meat snack maker Golden Valley Natural.
Western Smokehouse is a contract manufacturer (co-packing, private label, and branded products) of smoked meat snacks for emerging and established brands, as well as large retailers. The company’s beef, turkey, chicken, and pork products are available in sticks, bites, and strips and include organic, non-GMO, plant-based, and free-range options.
The founding of Western Smokehouse Partners dates to 1978 when Sam Western founded Western’s Smokehouse in Greentop, Missouri; and Jim Hankes founded Thrushwood Farms Quality Meats in Galesburg, Illinois.
In 2018, Monogram Capital Partners and Charis Consumer Partners formed Western Smokehouse Partners to acquire Western’s Smokehouse. In 2019, the company added on with the buy of Thrushwood Farms, and in 2020 added on again with the acquisition of Prairie Sky Snacks, a Springfield, Illinois-based contract manufacturer of meat snacks, from the founding Turasky family. AUA acquired Western Smokehouse from Monogram Capital Partners and Charis Consumer Partners in March 2023.
Today, Western Smokehouse is led by CEO Matt Bormann and is headquartered in Greentop, Missouri, with four production facilities in Illinois (2), Missouri, and Iowa.
The buy of family-owned Golden Valley Natural (DBA Hero Snacks), an Idaho-based maker of beef, pork, and turkey meat snacks, provides Western Smokehouse with a fifth production facility giving the company an aggregate 500,000 square feet of manufacturing space and a team of nearly 900 employees.
“We are pleased to welcome Golden Valley Natural into the Western Smokehouse Partners family,” said Mr. Borman. “Their legacy in the all-natural and organic meat snacks industry aligns with our mission of providing better-for-you meat snack products to all consumers.”
“We are very excited by the talent and capabilities that Golden Valley brings to the Western Smokehouse platform,” added David Benyaminy, a partner at AUA. “Golden Valley’s reputation for quality, innovation, and collaboration makes it an ideal fit.”
The AUA transaction team was led by Mr. Benyaminy along with Vice President Brian Krouskos, Senior Associate Nicholas Pflaum, and Associate Trip Ewig.
AUA Private Equity makes equity investments from $40 million to $100 million in companies with at least $10 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include consumer products and services with a focus on family-owned and Hispanic-oriented businesses. AUA is known for using low leverage to acquire companies and focusing on operational improvements rather than financial engineering to create stakeholder value. In May 2021, AUA held a final and oversubscribed closing of AUA Private Equity Fund II LP with total capital commitments of $310 million. AUA was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Cantor Fitzgerald was the financial advisor to Golden Valley on this transaction.
© 2024 Private Equity Professional | June 4, 2024
