Kingswood Capital Management, LP has acquired Branding Iron Holdings, an industry-leading provider of branded and private label protein products, including beef and pork, with a core focus on frozen and refrigerated ground meats. This represents the latest investment for Kingswood in the food and beverage industry.
Branding Iron manufactures a diverse set of protein products for the food service, retail, and chain restaurant channels from its headquarters in Sauget, Illinois, and has facilities in Rochester and Sauk Rapids, Minnesota.
The company has a 60 year legacy as a leading supplier, manufacturing frozen beef patties, refrigerated beef patties, portioned and bulk product, breaded product, pork product, and other proteins products. Effective at closing of the transaction, Andy Touchette has been promoted to CEO, while protein industry veteran John Niemann will join the company’s board of directors as executive chairman.
“It was important to us to identify a long-term partner who will help us grow and support customers across every channel, and we believe we found that in Kingswood,” said Touchette. “We are proud of what we have built at Branding Iron and are highly confident that customers will continue to enjoy the quality and service they have grown accustomed to, while we seek out ways to improve upon our excellent standards of delivery. We are excited about preserving our tremendous culture and look forward to our future partnership with Kingswood.”
About Kingswood Capital Management, LP
Kingswood Capital Management, LP partners with leading companies in the middle market which stand to benefit from its capital and extensive operating resources. Kingswood embraces complexity and believes it is well-positioned to support businesses at inflection points in their development to enhance value. Based in Los Angeles, Kingswood is a cohesive, entrepreneurial team with a long history of shared success developing “win-win” partnerships with its portfolio companies and management teams.
