NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MidOcean Partners (“MidOcean”), a premier middle market private equity firm focused on consumer and business services, announced today that it has acquired Florida Food Products (“FFP” or the “Company”), a leading manufacturer of natural and clean label ingredients, from Kainos Capital. MidOcean’s investment will be used to drive FFP’s continued growth and expansion. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Eustis, Florida, FFP is a leading manufacturer of healthy, natural, clean label ingredients and is the market leader in the clean label cure market. Clean label cures are used for a wide variety of end market uses including packaged meat, foodservice, private label and branded CPG meats as well as premium pet foods. FFP offers appealing alternatives to synthetic meat ingredients, including curing agents, accelerators, and stabilizers as well as plant- based flavor & color enhancement products across a variety of applications, including beverage, meat and meat alternatives, savory foods, sauces and dressings, pet care, sports nutrition and baked goods.
MidOcean has maintained a longtime institutional focus on the flavors/fragrances, food and ingredients sectors, including prior investments in Agilex Fragrances. MidOcean believes that FFP is in an attractive segment of the market as growth in the clean label/natural ingredients market should continue to outpace the traditional food ingredient industry. Consistent with its theme-driven investment approach, MidOcean worked closely with its management resources in identifying and evaluating opportunities in these sectors, resulting in the acquisition of FFP. Dan Stebbins, former Chairman of Agilex Fragrances, and Ray Hughes, former CEO of Agilex Fragrances, will serve on the Florida Food Products Board of Directors. MidOcean’s industry knowledge and executive resources in this space will be valuable in successfully executing on the company’s strategic growth plan.
FFP will continue to be led by its current management team, including CEO Jim Holdrieth, who has grown the Company into the industry leader in the clean label ingredients space. FFP will look to expand its product offerings and customer base in current and new markets in partnership with MidOcean’s considerable operating resources.
Jim Holdrieth, FFP CEO, commented, “MidOcean’s proven track record of building leading flavors, food and ingredients businesses and deep understanding of the industry makes them the ideal partner for FFP at this stage in our development. They are fully aligned with our mission and we are eager to leverage their extensive expertise and resources as we continue the Company’s expansion in the natural and clean label Ingredients market.”
Jonathan Marlow, Managing Director at MidOcean, commented, “We are very excited to partner with FFP, which is the market leader in the clean label cure market. Jim and his team have built an impressive business that has experienced strong growth. We have identified a number of opportunities to increase FFP’s presence across channels and markets fueled by organic investments, strategic initiatives and highly accretive acquisitions.”
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher acted as legal advisor to MidOcean. Houlihan Lokey acted as exclusive financial advisor and Winston & Strawn acted as legal advisor to Florida Food Products.
About Florida Food Products
Based in Eustis, Florida, Florida Food Products, Inc. operates a multifunctional production facility and is involved in manufacturing of vegetable juice concentrates and derivatives used in a multitude of food applications from savory to beverages, sports nutrition and meats, and are marketed globally. The Company has offered a portfolio of healthy, natural, clean label solutions for over 60 years. For additional information, please visit Florida Food Products’ website (www.floridafood.com).
About MidOcean Partners
Established in 2003, MidOcean Partners is a premier New York-based alternative asset manager that specializes in middle market private equity and alternative credit investments. Since inception, the focus of the private equity funds has been on high-quality middle market companies with attractive strategic, operational and financial growth opportunities in the consumer and business services sectors. MidOcean Credit Partners was launched in 2009 and manages approximately $8 billion across a series of alternative credit strategies, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), and customized separately managed accounts as of July 31, 2018. For more information, please visit MidOcean’s website (www.midoceanpartners.com).