Kingswood Capital Management LP has acquired Branding Iron Holdings, a 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 industry.

Branding Iron manufactures a diverse set of protein products for the foodservice, retail and chain restaurant channels from its headquarters in Sauget, Ill., and has facilities in Rochester and Sauk Rapids, Minn. The company has a 60-year legacy as a 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 from chief operating officer to chief executive officer, 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.”

“We are honored to be a part of the long and storied history of Branding Iron and its associated brands,” said Andrew Kovach, managing director of Kingswood. “We firmly believe in the Company’s quality, customer relationships, and strong manufacturing capabilities. Given Kingswood’s experience in the food space, we are excited to partner with the current management team as well as John Niemann to take the business to the next level.”

Alex Wolf, managing partner of Kingswood, said, “We are excited to get to work supporting and growing a highly regarded industry leader and build upon six decades of excellence in the protein industry. Kingswood brought proven operators from across the food landscape to quickly and efficiently move to a closing in another successful transaction with a family-founder business. We are strong believers in the potential for the business and are pleased to partner with Branding Iron management.”

Kirkland & Ellis, Lazard Inc. and Configure Partners advised Kingswood on the transaction. Northborne Partners and Stinson LLP advised Branding Iron on the transaction.

Source: Kingswood Capital Management LP