Rotunda Capital Partners has acquired Mama Lycha Foods in partnership with the founding Padilla family.
Mama Lycha provides branded Latin American foods and beverage products to over 750 retail customers across 37 US states and 4 Canadian provinces. The company’s more than 600 SKUs of products include snacks, spices, sauces, canned goods, beverages, and dairy items. The company goes to market under the Mama Lycha and El Amanecer company-owned brands. Also, it partners with dozens of companies exclusively to deliver their brands to the North American market.
Mama Lycha was founded in 1993 by President Luis Padilla and Vice President Maria Padilla. The company is headquartered in Houston and has additional facilities near Dallas in Grand Prairie, Texas, as well as in Central America.
“Mama Lycha represents a unique opportunity to invest in an exceptional business and team that has differentiated itself as a leading authority on Latin American cuisine,” said Dan Lipson, a managing partner at Rotunda. “Mama Lycha’s history of service and dedication to its partners’ and customers’ success, coupled with its strong and consistent track record of growth, make it an ideal platform investment for Rotunda. We look forward to partnering with the company to accelerate the execution of strategic growth investments.”
“Our family has been proud to serve our customers, brand partners, and local communities for more than 30 years,” said Luis and Maria Padilla in a released statement. “After an exhaustive search, it was clear that Rotunda was the right partner as we begin this next phase of accelerated growth. Rotunda truly understands our capital needs, our culture, and our commitment to supporting our team, brands and customers. We look forward to our partnership, which will position Mama Lycha as the main platform company for continued rapid growth across products, brands, and retailers.”
“This transaction further exemplifies Rotunda’s deep experience investing in founder and family-owned businesses and highlights our continued interest in attractive investments in the food and beverage distribution sectors that we believe could benefit from our ability to drive rapid growth and expansion,” said Corey Whisner, a managing partner of Rotunda.
With the close of this acquisition, Luis Marconi, an executive partner of Rotunda, will become the executive chairman of the company’s board. Mr. Marconi was most recently the head of the grocery products division of Hormel Foods and the president of Megamex Foods, a joint venture of Hormel Foods and Mexico-based food company Herdez Del Fuerte.
Rotunda invests in businesses with enterprise values of $30 million to $150 million. Sectors of interest include asset-light logistics, value-added distribution, specialty finance, and industrial and business services. The firm was founded as an independent sponsor in 2009 and is led by managing partner John Fruehwirth, with offices in Bethesda, Maryland, and near Chicago in Evanston, Illinois.
The Rotunda transaction team included Dan Lipson, Corey Whisner, Rohit Dhake, Brian Kim and Keith Cotter.
Statesman Corporate Finance was Mama Lycha’s financial advisor on this transaction.
© 2024 Private Equity Professional | September 13, 2024
