Shoreline Equity Partners has acquired Engelman Baking Company, a wholesale bakery based in Georgia.
Engelman’s products include ten types of sandwich bread (sliced, unsliced, thick sliced), nine varieties of table bread, an array of sandwich rolls including hamburger and hot dog buns, and four varieties of dinner rolls.
The company’s products are sold to more than 1,000 customers on a daily and just-in-time basis via local delivery to restaurants and entertainment venues in metropolitan Atlanta, and to national accounts through foodservice distributors.
Engelman was founded by CEO Sammy Engelman in 1982 and has more than 100 employees at its 50,000 sq. ft. Safe Quality Foods (SQF) Level II bakery in Norcross, Georgia. The Engelman family has been in the bakery business – first in Germany and later in the US – for more than 200 years. Mr. Engelman will continue to lead the company in partnership with Shoreline and he is maintaining a significant ownership position in the company.
“With a 200-year legacy in the bakery space, Sammy has built an extraordinary business alongside the rest of the management team at Engelman’s,” said Mike Hand, managing partner at Shoreline. “The company’s product quality and service to their customers is second to none, and we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Engelman’s to continue to capture the Atlanta market as well as to expand across the Southeast region.”
“For nearly 40 years, we have remained committed to building a best-in-class bakery delivering high-quality products and service to our customers,” said Mr. Engelman. “We are very excited to partner with Shoreline to execute on our growth strategy while remaining committed to delivering world-class service to our customers. Our partnership with Shoreline will give us the resources to take the next step at Engelman’s and to further expand our reach both locally and regionally.”
TM Capital was the financial advisor to Engelman’s on this transaction. “From day one, Sammy emphasized the importance of identifying a partner committed to honoring the extraordinary legacy of the Engelman’s brand while exploiting the many growth opportunities ahead,” said Jim Grien, president and chief executive officer of TM Capital. “Sammy selected Shoreline in recognition of their team’s expansive view of the art of the possible for Engelman’s, and their remarkable track record of success in partnering with entrepreneurs. Shoreline’s integrity throughout the journey – from indication of interest to closing – affirm the wisdom of Sammy’s choice.”
Shoreline invests up to $100 million per transaction in support of buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate divestitures. Typical target companies will have enterprise values from $25 million to $250 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $25 million. Areas of interest include non-capital-intensive businesses within the specialized manufacturing, value-added distribution, and business and industrial services sectors. In January 2020, Shoreline held an oversubscribed and hard-cap close of its first fund, Shoreline Equity Partners Fund LP, with $300 million in capital commitments. The firm was founded in March 2019 and is based near Jacksonville in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Twin Brook Capital Partners was the administrative agent on financing to support Shoreline’s buy of Engelman. Chicago-based Twin Brook focuses on loans to private equity-owned companies with EBITDA between $3 million and $50 million, with an emphasis on companies with $25 million of EBITDA and below. The firm targets senior financing opportunities up to $200 million, with hold sizes across the platform ranging from $25 million up to $150 million. Twin Brook’s products include opportunistic investments in second lien, mezzanine, and equity co-investments.
The transaction team for Shoreline was led by Managing Partner Mike Hand, Partner Peter Franz, Vice President Zach Mittelmark, Associate Mike Mancini, and Associate Peter Bouret.
© 2020 Private Equity Professional | March 10, 2020
