Acquisition expands Pestell Nutrition’s geographic presence and product portfolio, adding specialty pet food ingredients
Wind Point Partners (“Wind Point”) and portfolio company, Pestell Nutrition (“PN” or the “Company”), are pleased to announce today that PN has acquired Premier Ag Resources (“PAR”). PAR, founded in 1992 and headquartered in London, Ontario, operates as a value‐ added distributor of specialty pet food ingredients and feed additives across Canada and the U.S.
The acquisition of PAR is complementary to PN, which also distributes a portfolio of feed ingredients, additives and related products, as the combination provides the opportunity for both companies to leverage their product offerings and cross-sell their respective customer bases. Furthermore, PAR represents an opportunity for PN to continue to penetrate the value‐added specialty pet food ingredients and feed additives segments, a key strategic growth area for the Company. Post-integration, management will focus on optimizing PAR’s offerings and operations in an ongoing effort to establish the combined business as the preeminent distributor of animal nutrition and specialty pet food ingredients across North America.
Jerry Vergeer, Pestell Nutrition CEO, commented, “PAR is a great company with a diverse product portfolio and strong customer base across both the specialty pet food ingredient and animal feed additive sectors. When combined with Pestell Nutrition, we further strengthen our product offering to our customers and expand our geographic reach. The management and team at Premier Ag Resources have done an outstanding job of growing this great company over the past 27 years and we look forward to working with them to build on that success.”
Paul Peterson, Managing Director with Wind Point Partners, stated, “PAR is a highly strategic add-on and supports numerous aspects of Wind Point’s value creation plan. This acquisition is another example of how the Pestell Nutrition team is executing on our strategy to become a more diversified and value-added distributor across the animal nutrition industry. We’re very excited about this partnership and are looking forward to the opportunities ahead.”
The acquisition of PAR continues Wind Point’s long history of partnering and working with entrepreneur- owned businesses. This marks the second acquisition for PN since Wind Point’s original investment in June 2018. In August of 2019, PN acquired Pro Ag products, a leading Canadian distributor of branded feed additive products.
Jim Finn and Dave Hensel, PAR’s co-founders, commented, “The transition of PAR’s ownership to Pestell Nutrition represents a transformative milestone for the business. Pestell Nutrition’s resources and industry expertise will accelerate the trajectory at PAR, facilitating long-term, sustainable growth. We are excited about PAR’s future as part of Pestell Nutrition.”
BMO Sponsor Finance led the debt financing for the transaction. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Pestell Nutrition.
About Pestell Nutrition Inc.
Pestell Nutrition, headquartered in New Hamburg, Ontario, is a leading distributor of minerals & feed ingredients, feed additives, and specialty pet food ingredients to a diverse customer base of pre mixers, feed mills, pet food companies, and other end users within the animal nutrition and pet food sectors across Canada and the U.S. The Company maintains 16 warehouses throughout North America, supporting distribution capabilities. Additional information about Pestell Nutrition can be found at www.pestellminerals.com.
About Wind Point Partners
Wind Point Partners is a Chicago-based private equity investment firm with approximately $3 billion in assets under management. Wind Point focuses on partnering with top caliber management teams to acquire well-positioned middle market businesses where it can establish a clear path to value creation. The firm targets investments in the consumer products, industrial products, and business services sectors. Wind Point is currently investing out of Wind Point Partners IX, a fund that was initiated in 2010. For more information, please visit www.windpointpartners.com.
