Le Lézard
Subject: Divestiture

San Francisco Equity Partners Exits Investment in Red Monkey Foods with Sale to Norwest Equity Partners


San Francisco Equity Partners ("SFEP"), a private equity firm focused exclusively on partnering with growth-oriented companies in the consumer sector, announced today that it has sold Red Monkey Foods, Inc. ("Red Monkey") to Norwest Equity Partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Red Monkey is a provider of organic spices & seasonings, gourmet salts and bath salts, sold primarily through the grocery, mass, specialty and e-commerce channels. The company has become the market leader in organic store brand spices & seasonings and controls two high-growth salt brands. Red Monkey operates out of multiple state-of-the-art facilities in Springfield, Missouri and manages a global supply chain.

"SFEP has been a great partner to the Red Monkey management team over the last four years. Their experience building scalable businesses in the consumer space proved invaluable as we successfully executed on our strategy of becoming the premier supplier of premium organic flavor solutions," said Scott Bolonda, CEO of Red Monkey. "Our team greatly valued SFEP's operational approach to partnership. We look forward to capitalizing on the tremendous momentum in the business with our new partners at Norwest Equity."

"We have thoroughly enjoyed working with the talented team at Red Monkey as they have built an outstanding business," said David Mannix, SFEP Partner. "Over the course of our partnership, the company more than tripled revenue and EBITDA, completed a synergistic acquisition and significantly expanded its supply chain and manufacturing capabilities. Red Monkey is well positioned for continued growth and we wish the management team and Norwest Equity success in their new partnership."

Stifel served as exclusive financial advisor to Red Monkey and Cooley LLP acted as legal counsel to the company.

About Red Monkey Foods
Red Monkey is a leading provider of organic spices & seasonings, gourmet salts and bath salts. The company operates out of multiple state-of-the-art facilities in Springfield, Missouri and manages gourmet store brand flavor programs for many of the nation's largest food, mass and specialty retailers. Red Monkey's unique approach to premium store brand management is enabled by a robust global organic supply chain, strong product development capabilities and data-driven category management expertise. The company also manages two high-growth salt brands, San Francisco Salt Company and EPSOAK. For more information visit the company's websites, www.redmonkeyfoods.com, www.sfsalt.com and www.EPSOAK.com.

About San Francisco Equity Partners
SFEP is a private equity firm focused exclusively on partnering with growth-oriented companies in the consumer sector. To each of its partner companies, SFEP serves as an extension of the management team and provides both extensive operating experience and a broad network of relationships across the consumer products landscape. For more information visit www.sfequitypartners.com.



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