Boxwood Partners Advises Adams Flavors, Food & Ingredients on Its Recent Sale
Boxwood adds marquee transaction to its growing food and beverage practice
JUPITER, FL – (March 14, 2022) – Boxwood Partners is pleased to announce the sale of Adams Flavors, Food & Ingredients (“Adams” or the “Company), a portfolio company of Valesco Industries. Based in Gonzales, TX, Adams is a full-line provider of spices, extracts and food coloring.
Boxwood Partners, a leading boutique middle-market investment bank based in Jupiter, FL, acted as the exclusive sell-side advisor to Adams on the transaction. The transaction was led by J. Patrick Galleher (Managing Partner), Brian Alas (Managing Director), Robbie Nickle (Director), Madison Day (Vice President) and John Atkinson (Associate). The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is Boxwood’s 3rd transaction of 2022 and its 23rd transaction in as many months. The deal marks the latest transaction within the food and beverage industry, a growing area of focus for Boxwood.
Adams was founded over 130 years ago in 1888 after creating its renowned Adams Best Vanilla which has remained a top selling item in the category ever since. With both dry spice and wet flavor and extract manufacturing and packaging capabilities, Adams is one of the few remaining regional brands that offers both wet and dry capabilities in a variety of packaging configurations. The Company’s flavors, extracts, food colors, and spices have become a staple within consumers’ pantries across the South-Central region of the US. The Company has also broadened its reach and relevance within in the industry by attracting blue-chip private label and contract packaging programs nationwide.
“Adams is well positioned for its next phase of growth and excited for its newest partnership with this transaction,” said CEO and President, Dan Shannon. “Our ‘culinary first’ approach allowed us to grow significantly by expanding our private label customer base while also reinvesting in growing our brand to new regions of the country.”
Underpinned by significant industry tailwinds within the spice and flavor sector, and driven by significant excess capacity, Adams is poised to enhance and expand its industry-leading reputation as a key category partner within the aisle.
“Adams has a strong history of growth and innovation with one of the strongest brands in the category, said Boxwood Partners’ Managing Partner, J. Patrick Galleher. “The rise in better-for-you, organic and clean label ingredient solutions continue to drive strong interest among investors in the food industry.”
“We truly enjoyed working with the Boxwood team throughout this transaction,” added Addison Kim, Principal at Valesco. “Their data-driven, process-oriented approach and knowledge of the sector guided us to a successful transaction.”
John McGowan, Kellie Bobo, Bryan Diebels and Reem Abdelrazik of Haynes Boone served as legal counsel while BKD LLP served as accounting advisor to the Company.
About Boxwood Partners
Boxwood Partners, LLC, is a boutique investment bank based in Jupiter, Florida with offices in Richmond, Virginia. Boxwood Partners combines a unique blend of senior-level transaction advisory, business operating experience, and proven process execution skills to give its clients a distinct advantage in the market. The firm’s extensive relationships within the global capital and buyer communities (including U.S. and international private equity groups, corporations, and lenders) and other important transaction-related service providers such as consultants, attorneys, and accountants, ensure that the firm’s clients receive the attention, service, and results they deserve.
For more information about Boxwood Partners, please visit www.boxwoodpartners.com.
About Adams Flavors, Food & Ingredients
Headquartered in Gonzales, Texas, Adams serves as one of the most tenured extract and spice manufacturers in the United States. After its founding in 1888 upon the creation of Adams Best Vanilla flavor, the Company continued to grow its influence in the baking category with the addition of the first 4-pack food color, the creation of butter flavor during World War II, and authoring the original Red Velvet Cake recipe. Adams legacy brands have resided on the shelves of retailer and consumers for decades, allowing the recent nationwide expansion through new and existing trusted private label and contract packaging relationships. Adams offers spices, seasonings, food colors, flavors and extracts out of a 125,000+ square foot SQF-certified facility
See www.adamsextract.com for more information.
About Valesco
Valesco is a Dallas, Texas based private equity firm that focuses on making control and non-control investments in select growth-oriented small- and lower- middle-market businesses engaged in manufacturing, distribution and business-to-business services. Valesco specializes in partnering with a company’s management team to support its growth objectives. As long-term industry veterans, the principals have capitalized and built numerous successful businesses, serving those companies in varying roles as investors, managers, advisors and directors.
See www.valescoind.com for more information.
