Turnspire Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of the nutraceuticals business from specialty chemicals company Ashland, Inc. The Ashland unit will now operate under the name Pharmachem Innovations.
Pharmachem Innovations (no URL is yet available) offers a broad portfolio of nutritional ingredients and custom formulation services to companies in the health and wellness sectors. The company also provides contract manufacturing, handling everything from formula design and ingredient sourcing to finished product manufacturing.
Pharmachem has more than 500 employees and operates out of four production facilities in New Jersey, Utah, and Mexico.
With the close of the transaction, Turnspire Operating Partner Maurice Murphy has been appointed executive chairman of Pharmachem Innovations, and Jeff Rogers has been named interim chief executive officer.
Mr. Murphy is an experienced senior executive, having previously served as president and CEO of UPG Company (United Plastics Group), a manufacturer of components and finished products made from engineered plastic resins. UPG’s products are used in various sectors, including data centers, healthcare, energy, and industrial applications. Turnspire acquired UPG from MedPlast, a portfolio company of Baird Capital, in May 2016 and sold it to The Partner Companies (TPC) in October 2022, generating nearly a 9x return on invested capital.
From 2019 to 2023, Mr. Rogers served as president and chief operating officer of Niacet Corporation, a producer of specialty ingredients for food, feed, and pharmaceutical applications. Niacet was a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners from 2017 to 2021 before being sold to Kerry Group, a provider of functional and nutritional ingredients. Mr. Rogers has also held senior roles at National Starch & Chemical, Ashland, and Lonza, a Swiss-based contract manufacturer for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and nutrition sectors.
“We are excited to acquire Pharmachem and its highly compelling formulation and manufacturing capabilities, underpinned by a broad portfolio of proprietary ingredients,” said Ilya Koffman, Turnspire’s managing partner. “Led by Maurice and Jeff, and with the benefit of Turnspire’s extensive experience transforming corporate carve-outs into thriving standalone companies, Pharmachem is well positioned to capitalize on attractive growth opportunities in its markets.”
“I am delighted to join Pharmachem and to once again partner with Turnspire, which has a fantastic track record of supporting management teams to create and grow best-in-class businesses,” said Mr. Murphy. “I look forward to working with Jeff and the talented employees to build on Pharmachem’s rich legacy as an innovator in the exciting and rapidly growing nutraceuticals space.”
Turnspire invests in North American companies with revenues between $50 million and $400 million, and positive or negative EBITDA. The firm specializes in corporate carve-outs, family ownership transitions, distressed companies, and complex transactions in out-of-favor or misunderstood industries. In December 2023, Turnspire closed Turnspire Value Fund II LP with $275 million in capital commitments. The firm, headquartered in New York City, was co-founded by Mr. Koffman in 2013.
Ashland (NYSE: ASH) is a specialty chemicals company that supplies a wide range of additives and specialty ingredients used in pharmaceuticals, personal care, food and beverage, and construction applications.
Piper Sandler & Co. served as financial advisor to Turnspire on this transaction.
© 2024 Private Equity Professional | September 5, 2024
