SANTA MONICA, Calif. and
MONTCLAIR, N.J., Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Clearlake
Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, "Clearlake") today announced they have signed a
definitive agreement to sell Proven Brands, Inc. and KTB Foods,
Inc. (together, "Proven Brands" or the "Company"; d/b/a "That's How
We Roll") to The Hain Celestial Group ("Hain Celestial") for
approximately $259 million. The
sale includes the flagship ParmCrisps and Thinsters brands out of
Clearlake's Better For You
Holdings food platform, which sponsors leading providers of high
quality, branded, better-for-you snacks and beverages.
Clearlake acquired the Company
in 2014 and subsequently completed the successful acquisition of
Kitchen Table Bakers, the makers of ParmCrisps, in 2016.
Under Clearlake's stewardship, in partnership with Founder
Aldo Zuppichini, Chief Executive
Officer Sammy Kestenbaum and
management and employees, the Company introduced a variety of new
flavors and innovative products, scaled distribution and
manufacturing, including opening a new company-owned facility in
2020 to optimize the Company's proprietary manufacturing process,
accelerated multi-channel go-to-market capabilities, and modernized
its branding with redesigned logos and packaging.
These initiatives resulted in ~6x revenue growth during
Clearlake's ownership
period. Since Clearlake's initial investment, the Company has
grown its employees from less than 10 to over 250 today, and now
operates a recently opened 70,000 square foot manufacturing
facility in York, PA. The
Company has successfully positioned ParmCrisps and Thinsters as the
#1 and #3 brands in their categories, respectively, with ParmCrisps
positioned as the fastest growing cheese crisp brand in the
U.S.
"We have been proud to partner with Aldo, Sammy and the entire
team in executing on our combined vision of scaling a
better-for-you snack platform to meet the demands of today's health
conscious, informed consumers," said José E. Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali, Co-Founders and
Managing Partners of Clearlake. "We leveraged our
firm's significant experience in the consumer sector, and committed
substantial operational and M&A resources to scale the Company
through our O.P.S® playbook. Given our previous
experience with Hain Celestial, who acquired our former portfolio
company World Gourmet / Sensible Portions in 2010, we believe
ParmCrisps and Thinsters have found a perfect home, and we look
forward to the brands' continued success under Hain."
"The growth we achieved with ParmCrisps and Thinsters in
partnership with the Company's leadership team and employee base is
an exciting success story for Clearlake's O.P.S® approach," said
Arta Tabaee, Managing Director, and
Sean Courtney, Vice President of
Clearlake. "Several years ago, Clearlake identified market demand for
better-for-you snacks that enable consumers to make healthier
lifestyle choices. We believed we could establish
differentiated better-for-you snack brands that would benefit from
a multi-channel commercial strategy geared toward club, grocery,
mass, and eCommerce channels, as well as an emphasis on product
innovation and operational excellence. Further, we recognized
the importance of protecting the brands' proprietary manufacturing
processes by building and growing our production capabilities and
pursuing operational excellence. We are proud of the success
of the ParmCrisps and Thinsters brands, and look forward to their
continued growth under Hain Celestial's leadership."
"We are excited to welcome ParmCrisps and Thinsters to the Hain
family and support the brands' next chapter of growth", said
Mark Schiller, President and CEO of
Hain. "ParmCrisps and Thinsters are attractive clean-label snacks
that address the needs of a growing base of health conscious
consumers."
"Our Company's partnership with Hain Celestial is an outstanding
outcome based on our shared alignment to deliver healthy and tasty
snacks with simple, wholesome ingredients. We are thrilled to
have had the opportunity to partner with Clearlake, and are grateful to our customers,
suppliers, and employees for their support," said Mr. Kestenbaum.
"Together, we have built two leading better-for-you snack brands
with significant runway for continued growth and innovation."
"This successful outcome would not have been possible without
the value-added partnership of Clearlake, whose deep consumer and operating
expertise accelerated our growth trajectory,"added Mr. Zuppichini.
"Clearlake understood our goals,
and, under their stewardship, we were able to successfully execute
our growth plan. A great product along with the right people and an
intense passion has been our recipe for success."
This transaction represents the latest exit in Clearlake's portfolio in the consumer sector.
In addition to ParmCrisps and Thinsters, current and past
investments in the consumer space include notable brands such as
From the Ground Up, Sensible Portions, OWYN, Chef's Cut Real Jerky,
and CORE Hydration in the better-for-you food & beverage
sector; Wellness, Whimzees, and Old Mother Hubbard in the pet food
category; as well as other notable consumer brands such as Jacuzzi
in the wellness sector and American Racing, Fuel Off-Road, and KMC
in the automotive aftermarket space.
Piper Sandler & Co. and BofA
Securities served as the financial advisors to Proven Brands and
Hain Celestial, respectively. Sidley Austin LLP and Venable
served as counsel to Clearlake and
Hain, respectively.
ABOUT CLEARLAKE
Founded in 2006, Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is a leading
investment firm operating integrated businesses across private
equity, credit and other related strategies. With a
sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with experienced
management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic
businesses that can benefit from Clearlake's operational improvement approach,
O.P.S.® The firm's core target sectors are technology,
industrials, and consumer. Clearlake currently has over $55 billion assets under management, and its
senior investment principals have led or co-led over 300
investments. The firm has offices in Santa Monica and Dallas. More
information is available at www.clearlake.com and on Twitter
@ClearlakeCap.
ABOUT PROVEN BRANDS (d/b/a "THAT'S HOW WE ROLL")
Proven Brands (d/b/a "That's How We Roll") manufactures baked
snacks using simple, wholesome ingredients, free of GMO, corn
syrups, RBGH, and artificial colors, flavors, and
preservatives. The Company's mission is to make the world
healthier, tastier, and a little more fun. The Company
currently operates two flagship better-for-you brands – ParmCrisps
and Thinsters. ParmCrisps are artisan crafted, gluten-free
and sugar-free, crunchy crisps made from 100% cheese, boasting low
carbs and high protein. Thinsters are crispy, crunchy,
bite-sized, oven-baked cookies made with real butter, real sugar,
and no artificial ingredients. Learn more online at
www.thwroll.com.
ABOUT HAIN CELESTIAL
The Hain Celestial Group (Nasdaq: HAIN), headquartered in
Lake Success, NY, is a leading
organic and natural products company with operations in
North America, Europe, Asia
and the Middle East. Hain Celestial participates in many
natural categories with well-known brands that include Celestial
Seasonings®, Clarks™, Cully & Sully®, Earth's Best®, Ella's
Kitchen®, Frank Cooper's®, Gale's®,
Garden of Eatin'®, Hain Pure Foods®, Hartley's®, Health Valley®,
Imagine®, Joya®, Lima®, Linda
McCartney's® (under license), MaraNatha®, Natumi®, New
Covent Garden Soup Co.®, Robertson's®, Rose's® (under license),
Sensible Portions®, Spectrum®, Sun-Pat®, Terra®, The Greek Gods®,
Yorkshire Provender® and Yves Veggie Cuisine®. The Company's
personal care products are marketed under the Alba Botanica®,
Avalon Organics®, JASON®, Live Clean® and Queen Helene® brands.
Media Contacts:
For Clearlake:
Jennifer Hurson
Lambert & Co.
(845) 507-0571
jhurson@lambert.com
For Proven Brands (d/b/a That's How We Roll):
Kerry Anne Watson
Bright Red Agency
(850) 309-3794
kwatson@brightredagency.com
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clearlake-backed-parmcrisps-and-thinsters-brands-to-be-acquired-by-hain-celestial-301442823.html
SOURCE Clearlake Capital Group