Organics

Charterhouse Exits Rudi’s Organic Bakery

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The Hain Celestial Group, an organic and natural products company, has acquired Rudi’s Organic Bakery, a portfolio company Charterhouse Equity Partners. The purchase price of $61.3 million consisted of cash and common shares of Hain Celestial.

Rudi’s is a marketer, manufacturer and distributor of certified organic and certified gluten-free breads, buns, muffins, tortillas, wraps and soft pretzels and GFCO-certified natural breads, buns, pizza crusts, tortillas, snack bars and stuffing in the United States and Canada.  The company primarily sells branded products through natural food chains, independent health food stores, conventional supermarkets and the club channel. In calendar year 2013, Rudi’s generated approximately $60 million in net sales.  Rudi’s is based in Boulder, CO (www.rudisbakery.com).

“We are very excited by the strategic acquisition of Rudi’s, a leading certified organic bread brand, which expands our participation into 11 of the top 20 natural categories in the United States.  At Hain Celestial we look for the latest trends, and consumers are increasing their purchases of whole grains, organic and gluten-free product offerings,” said Irwin Simon, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial.

The Hain Celestial Group (NASDAQ: HAIN) is a food company whose main focus is natural and organic foods and personal care products. The company’s products range from herbal teas, offered through the Celestial Seasonings brand, to organic free range chickens through the FreeBird brand.  The company also provides organic, whole grain foods through Arrowhead Mills.  Hain Celestial assumed its current form in May 2000 through the merger of the Hain Food Group with Celestial Seasonings. The company is headquartered on Long Island in Lake Success, NY (www.hain-celestial.com).

Charterhouse Equity Partners invests in businesses with enterprise values between $25 million and $150 million through a variety of private equity transactions – sector build-ups, buyouts and growth capital financings.  Charterhouse commenced operations as the US Investment arm of the UK-based Charterhouse Bank four decades ago. In the mid-1980’s, Charterhouse became an independent entity and invested pledged capital on behalf of a group of high-net worth families and institutional investors. The firm raised its first dedicated fund, Charterhouse Equity Partners, LP, with third-party institutional capital, in 1989. The firm is currently seeking new platform investment opportunities as well as strategic add-on investments for its existing portfolio companies.  Charterhouse is headquartered in Summit, NJ (www.charterhouseequity.com).

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-29-14

Weld North Invests in Organic Avenue

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Weld North announced today that it has acquired a significant minority stake in Organic Avenue, a provider of organic juices and raw food plans. “After six years of successful local expansion and building a loyal customer base, we were ready to take on a partner that could help manifest our vision,” said Denise Mari, Founder, Organic Avenue.

Organic Avenue provides organic juicing and raw food plans and has a vertically integrated line of 50 custom developed healthy product categories including organic, cold-pressed juices, soups, smoothies, salads, booster shots, gourmet entrees and desserts. The company also offers classes in food preparation, community gatherings and health-promoting retreats. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in New York, NY (www.organicavenue.com).

Weld North is an investment company founded by former Kaplan, Inc. CEO Jonathan Grayer in partnership with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Sectors of interest include education, health and wellness, consumer services and marketing businesses. The investment marks in Organic Avenue is the first in the health and wellness space for Weld North. As part of the transaction, Mr. Grayer will become Chairman of Organic Avenue. The firm is based in Greenwich, CT (www.weldnorth.com).

“We are extremely excited to begin Weld North’s expansion into the health and wellness category with this investment in Organic Avenue,” said Mr. Grayer, Chairman and CEO, Weld North. “The organic lifestyle market is an exciting and dynamic space, with consumers spending more than $300 billion on lifestyle and health-related products in 2011. Organic Avenue, under the leadership of its current management team, has had an impressive growth story in the greater NYC market with high volume stores in key New York neighborhoods addressing an important and growing consumer market. We look forward to helping Organic Avenue realize its goal to open many more new locations over the next two years and to position the company for long-term expansion.”