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Lion Equity Partners has acquired Country Life from KI NutriCare, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kikkoman Corporation.

Country Life is a manufacturer and marketer of branded vitamins and nutritional supplements including Country Life Vitamins, Desert Essence Personal Care, and Biochem Protein. For the twelve months ending in March 2023, the company recorded revenues of $69 million.

Country Life, led by President Wendy Lucas, is headquartered on Long Island in Hauppauge, New York.

“Country Life was founded with a commitment to providing the best health and wellness products to our customers. We are thrilled by Lion Equity’s investment in Country Life as we continue to provide trusted natural products at the highest standards,” said Ms. Lucas. “As a leader in the natural health industry, we look forward to continuing our mission through targeted investments in our business to help us accelerate our long-term strategic plan and support Country Life’s next phase of growth.”

“For more than 50 years, Country Life has distinguished itself as an industry leading brand with exceptional products, service, and innovation,” said Jim Levitas, a co-founder and partner of Lion Equity. “The company’s expertise in health and wellness combined with its commitment to the highest quality provide a strong foundation for future growth, both organically and through strategic add-on acquisitions.”

In 2005, Kikkoman, a Japan-based food maker, and Consac Industries formed KI NutriCare as a health food joint venture with Kikkoman acquiring Consac’s equity interest in 2006.

Kikkoman’s main products and services include soy sauce, food seasoning and flavoring, mirin, shōchū, and sake, juice and other beverages, pharmaceuticals, and restaurant management services. The company, founded in 1603 and headquartered north of Tokyo in Noda, Japan, has production plants and offices in Japan, the United States, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Canada.

Denver-based Lion Equity makes control investments in North American-based corporate carve-outs and special situations including businesses experiencing financial, operational or industry-driven challenges. Typical targets will have revenues between $30 million and $300 million and EBITDA up to $15 million. Lion Equity invests across a wide range of sectors and is effectively industry agnostic. Equity for the acquisition of Country Life was sourced through the firm’s third fund, Lion Equity Fund III LP.

Rothschild & Co. was the financial advisor to Kikkoman on this transaction.

© 2023 Private Equity Professional | August 2, 2023

Gauge Capital has acquired Craftable, an SaaS platform serving the hospitality industry.

Craftable’s software is used by operators in the hospitality, food, beverage, and entertainment industries to increase revenues and reduce costs by connecting purchasing, recipes, inventory, sales, accounting, and data analytics. Company owned brands include Bevager, used for beverage ordering, invoicing and inventory management; and Foodager, used for menu engineering, recipe costing, price comparison, purchasing and invoice management.

According to Craftable, users of the company’s products can boost revenues while also lowering pour costs by 3% to 5% and food costs by 2% to 3%. Today, more than 50,000 monthly active customers use the company’s SaaS platforms. Craftable, led by co-founder and CEO Samuel Zats, was founded in 2015 and is headquartered northwest of Dallas in Farmers Branch, Texas.

“We are excited to partner with Gauge for the next chapter of Craftable’s growth. We look forward to leveraging the resources and support from an investment partner with significant enterprise software expertise while maintaining our relentless focus on the customer experience that has always been at the core of Craftable’s success,” said Mr. Zats. “Gauge’s growth investment in the business and aligned focus on supporting our customers will help us to accelerate our product innovation, execute our sales strategy and further build our impact in the market.”

“Craftable has a distinguished reputation in the hospitality sector, enterprise-grade capabilities, and a highly scalable technology platform,” said Tom McKelvey, a co-founder and managing partner at Gauge Capital. “We couldn’t be more excited to partner with the Craftable team to realize our shared vision for the future of hospitality innovation.”

Headquartered near Dallas in Southlake, Texas, Gauge Capital makes control and shared-control investments in North American-based companies that have at least $7 million of revenue and at least $5 million of EBITDA. Typical transaction types include buyouts, recapitalizations, divestitures, privatizations, consolidations, and growth capital investments. Sectors of interest include business services, food and consumer, government and industrial services, healthcare, and technology.

© 2023 Private Equity Professional | August 2, 2023

KKR has closed its acquisition of Industrial Physics, a maker of testing and measurement instruments, from Union Park Capital.

KKR is acquiring Industrial Physics through its Ascendant Fund which invests in North America-based middle market companies and is part of a KKR investment strategy launched in February 2023 to invest up to $250 million in businesses operating in the testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) industry.

Industrial Physics is a holding company created by Union Park in 2014 to build a platform of small and mid-sized businesses that make and market materials and physical testing instrumentation. The company’s instruments are used to measure the physical and analytical properties of plastics, barrier films, paper, pulp, foil, ink, coatings, corrugated materials, cans, medical devices, and consumer electronic products.

Within the beverage industry, the company’s products are used for seam inspection, can inspection, label inspection, code reading, and permeation analysis. Industrial Physics’ instruments are also used in the food packaging sector for crush, burst, peel, and tack testing.

Boston-headquartered Industrial Physics goes to market under more than a dozen brands including Eagle Vision Systems, Messmer Büchel, OxySense, Ray-Ran, Technidyne, Testing Machines, TM Electronics and United Testing Systems.

In tandem with the close of this acquisition, Barry Lyon has been named the new chief executive officer  of Industrial Physics and Lance Reisman has assumed the role of chairman of the board. Mr. Lyon succeeds Jim Neville, who has led the company since 2016.

Mr. Lyon joins Industrial Physics after spending more than fifteen years at Washington DC-headquartered and global conglomerate Danaher Corporation, most recently as the president of microbiology for Beckman Coulter, a California-based clinical diagnostics company and a Danaher operating subsidiary.

“I am honored to join Industrial Physics and work alongside Lance and the rest of the talented team at Industrial Physics,” said Mr. Lyon. “Industrial Physics has created an impressive global portfolio of leading brands and I am excited to build upon this foundation to better serve our customers and drive future growth, both organically and through acquisitions. I am enthused to work with KKR as a strategic partner and to lead the roll out of a broad-based equity plan in which all Industrial Physics colleagues will become owners of the business.”

Mr. Reisman is an executive advisor to KKR and currently serves as a board member at Flow Control Group and as chairman of the board at GeoStabilization International. Earlier in his career he was with Danaher, most recently as a group executive and vice president responsible for Danaher’s water quality platform.

“Testing and measurement is an attractive market that is poised to continue growing as focus on product quality and supply chain transparency intensifies,” said Brandon Brahm, a partner at KKR and Co-Head of KKR’s Ascendant strategy. “We are thrilled to invest in Industrial Physics, a leader in this space, which has built an impressive portfolio of brands used by many of the world’s leading manufacturers. We look forward to working with the Industrial Physics team and helping the company reach new heights through organic growth and M&A.”

KKR (NYSE: KKR) makes private equity, fixed income, and other investments in companies in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. KKR was founded in 1976 and in addition to its New York headquarters has offices in 19 cities around the world.

Union Park, the seller of Industrial Physics, invests from $10 million to $50 million in North American and European industrial technology companies with revenues from $10 million to $75 million. Add-on acquisitions for the firm’s platform companies will typically have revenues from $1 million to $50 million. Union Park is headquartered in Boston.

© 2023 Private Equity Professional | August 2, 2023

Publicly traded Arconic Corporation has agreed to be acquired by Apollo and Irenic Capital Management in an all-cash transaction that values the company at $5.2 billion.

Arconic (NYSE: ARNC) is a manufacturer of lightweight metals with a focus on high-performance aluminum, titanium, and nickel-based alloy products that are used in aerospace, automotive, defense, and construction applications.

The company, led by CEO Tim Myers, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In FY 2022, Arconic had revenues of $9 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $706 million. Based on the $5.2 billion enterprise valuation, this results in a valuation multiple of 7.4x.

Arconic Inc. became a stand-alone company in November 2016 when it was spun out from publicly traded Alcoa (NYSE: AA). In January 2020, Arconic Inc. separated into two companies, Arconic Corp. and Howmet Aerospace.

“In the more than three years since we became a standalone company, we have shown the capabilities and potential of Arconic’s employees and assets,” said Mr. Myers. “Our unique product portfolio in an industry with significant potential for growth across the markets we serve positions us to deliver substantial value to our customers and the end users of our products. This transaction will provide Arconic with the backing of one of the world’s premier investment firms and will allow us to leverage Apollo’s industry expertise and relationships to pursue our long-term strategic goals.”

Apollo will support upgrading Arconic’s machining equipment and technologies to bring the company’s plants and process controls to state-of-the-art standards. “Arconic’s talented management team and employees operate a set of premier global assets serving markets that are growing. We are committed to investing significant capital in the company to secure its competitive position and world-class product offering to continue building on Arconic’s journey,” said Gareth Turner, a partner at Apollo.

“As aluminum continues to win share in markets seeking sustainable, high-performing material across a wide variety of applications, we believe there is a strong runway for growth in markets throughout the world,” added Mr. Turner. “We are looking forward to supporting Arconic’s experienced team with our resources and knowledge in the sector to help the company achieve its long-term goals.”

New York City-headquartered Apollo (NYSE: APO) has more than $513 billion of assets under management and more than $83 billion dedicated to private equity. The firm has acquired more than 350 companies since its founding in 1990.

Irenic Capital is an activist investor in small to mid-cap public companies. The firm was founded in 2021 and is led by co-founders Adam Katz, previously an associate portfolio manager at Elliott Management, which actively invested in both Alcoa and Arconic beginning in 2015; and Andy Dodge, a former investment partner at Indaba Capital Management. In addition, Josh Nadell, the former CFO of Elliott Management, is a partner and CFO of the firm. Irenic Capital is backed by the Fribourg family, owners of Continental Grain Co., and is headquartered in New York City.

Evercore Group and Goldman Sachs are the financial advisors to Arconic on this transaction. J.P. Morgan Securities and Wells Fargo Securities, are acting as co-lead financial advisors to Apollo. BMO Capital Markets, Mizuho Securities and TD Securities are also serving as financial advisors to Apollo.

This transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of 2023.

© 2023 Private Equity Professional | July 27, 2023

Brynwood Partners has formed West Madison Foods and has agreed to acquire the Marie’s salad dressing brand and the Dean’s Dip business from Ventura Foods. Ventura acquired the Marie’s dressings and Dean’s dips businesses from Dean Foods in 2005 for $198 million.

Brynwood’s investment in West Madison Foods was made through its ninth fund, Brynwood Partners IX LP. The acquisition of Marie’s salad dressing and Dean’s Dip includes a manufacturing facility in Thornton, Illinois (30 miles south of Chicago) where the company’s products – Blue Cheese, Caesar, Ranch and Coleslaw dressings, and French Onion, Ranch and Guacamole dips and spreads – are manufactured.

West Madison Foods is headquartered in Chicago and now has approximately 84 full-time employees.

“Dean’s and Marie’s are extraordinary brands, and we are delighted to lead these brands into their next phase of growth and expansion,” said Henk Hartong III, the chairman and CEO of Brynwood. “We look forward to partnering with the team in Thornton to enhance manufacturing and bring more products and new innovations to market. We thank the Ventura Foods team for being a great partner in the transaction.”

“The acquisition of West Madison Foods represents another corporate carveout for Brynwood, an area where we have developed a specific investment expertise,” added Mr. Hartong. “We have completed three carveouts in the last seven months starting with Birch Benders in December 2022, followed by Uno Foods in March 2023 and now the Dean’s Dip and Marie’s businesses.”

The Brynwood investment portfolio also includes Harvest Hill Beverage Company, Carolina Beverage Group, Hometown Food Company, Buitoni Food Company and Great Kitchens Food Company. With the addition of West Madison Foods, the total Brynwood manufacturing network will total 17 facilities, approximately 4,700 employees and more than $2.6 billion in annual sales.

Greenwich, Connecticut-based Brynwood is an operationally focused firm that makes control investments in North American-based lower middle-market companies. The firm targets non-core brands or companies operating exclusively in the consumer sector.

Ventura Foods , the seller of Dean’s and Marie’s, is a producer of branded and private label dressings, sauces, mayonnaises, shortenings, and oils that are sold to foodservice companies, restaurants, and retailers in over 70 countries. Ventura Foods was formed in 1996 and is a privately held joint venture of CHS, a publicly traded  agricultural cooperative, and Mitsui & Co. The company has $4 billion in annual revenue with manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Philippines.

BofA Securities was the advisor to Ventura Foods on this transaction.

© 2023 Private Equity Professional | July 25, 2023

Seviroli Foods, a portfolio company of Mill Point Capital, has acquired Mama Rosie’s Company.

Mama Rosie’s is a second-generation family-owned manufacturer of filled and non-filled frozen pasta products sold through the grocery/retail channel in the Northeastern United States. The company, led by CEO Nick Sardo, is headquartered in the Greater Boston area with facilities in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and Woburn, Massachusetts.

Mill Point acquired Seviroli Foods and its sister company Vertullo Imports in December 2022. Seviroli’s products include ravioli, tortellini, stuffed shells, manicotti, short cut pastas, sauces, and Italian desserts that are sold to the foodservice, club and grocery, and other retail channels.

Seviroli – headquartered on Long Island in Garden City, New York – operates three manufacturing facilities in the New York metro area and has the capability to serve customers nationally.

Seviroli also imports specialty food products under its Vertullo brand, importing over 150 items from 19 countries, including pasta, rice, sauces, oils, truffles, and other fresh and frozen goods. Vertullo supplies products to Seviroli as well as third-party foodservice, retail and e-commerce trade customers. Seviroli was founded in 1960 and is led by president and CEO Paul Vertullo.

“Nick and his management team have achieved excellent growth at Mama Rosie’s while staying true to the company’s core focus of manufacturing high-quality pasta and maintaining outstanding customer service,” said Mr. Vertullo. “Our combination with Mama Rosie’s is exciting and allows us to reinforce our commitment to delivering superior products and services to our customers and exciting ideas for this category.”

“Nick and the Mama Rosie’s team have done a fantastic job in establishing the company as a leading brand in its markets,” said Aileen Wang, a vice president at Mill Point. “The Seviroli and Mama Rosie’s teams are eager to unlock the new growth opportunities available to the combined company.”

New York City-based Mill Point makes control-oriented investments in North America-based lower middle-market industrial, business services, and IT services companies. Mill Point closed its second fund, Mill Point Capital Partners II LP, at its hard cap of $886 million in February 2021. The firm’s inaugural institutional fund, Mill Point Capital Partners LP, closed at its hard cap of $450 million in May 2018.

© 2023 Private Equity Professional | July 20, 2023

Greenbriar Equity Group has acquired Towne Park, a provider of parking and hospitality services, from TA Associates.

Towne Park is a provider of outsourced parking management and other specialized hospitality services to hotels, healthcare institutions and residential properties across the Unites States. Towne Park’s services include valet parking, self-parking, door service, bell service, patient transportation, employee support, concierge, shuttle transport and event services.

The company serves more than 800 properties across the United States including for Hilton Worldwide, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Corporation, Loews Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Omni Hotels and Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Representative healthcare clients include Adventist Health System, Allegent Health, Banner Health, St. Luke’s Health System and Tenet Healthcare Corporation. Towne Park was founded in 1988 and has more than 11,000 employees with headquarters in Annapolis, Maryland.

TA acquired Towne Park in December 2013 and has closed numerous add-on acquisitions including Dallas-based Priority Parking (2014), Columbus, Ohio-based Parking Solutions (2016), Cleveland-based M.V.P. Parking Solutions (2016), Salt Lake City, Utah-based Valet Parking Services (2016), New York-based Park Plus Parking (2017), New Jersey-based Citi Park (2017), and Hawaii-based Elite Parking Services (2019).

“We are excited to partner with Greenbriar as we enter this next phase of Towne Park’s growth and success,” said Andrew Kerin, the CEO of Towne Park. “Our values and approach are very much aligned, and we have a collective commitment to enhancing the company’s capabilities and client solutions to accelerate our growth and provide greater opportunities for our team members. We look forward to working together and benefitting from Greenbriar’s significant expertise and successful track-record in expanding and scaling tech-enabled service platforms like Towne Park.”

In partnership with Greenbriar, Towne Park will pursue both organic and acquisition opportunities in order to widen the company’s national presence and broaden its suite of services.

“Towne Park is an exceptional business with a long and successful track record supporting leading clients within its core end markets,” said Michael Weiss, a managing partner at Greenbriar. “We have been impressed by the company’s customer-centric approach, deep operational capabilities, and industry-leading technology and service platform. We are looking forward to partnering with Andrew and the management team to support the company through its next stage of growth.”

Rye, New York-headquartered Greenbriar is an active investor in the supply chain, business services, and advanced manufacturing sectors. In January 2023, Greenbriar held an oversubscribed, above-target, and hard cap close of its sixth fund, Greenbriar Equity Fund VI LP, with total capital commitments of more than $3.4 billion. This new fund is the largest fund raised by Greenbriar. Since its founding in 1999, the firm has raised over $10 billion in capital commitments across its six funds.

TA Associates makes equity investments of $100 million to $600 million in middle-market growth companies that are valued from $150 million to over $3 billion. Sectors of interest include technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer, and business services. Since the firm’s founding in 1968, TA has invested in more than 560 companies across its target industries, with over 120 companies in the portfolio today.

Moelis & Company was the financial advisor to TA and Towne Park on this transaction.

© 2023 Private Equity Professional | July 11, 2023