Honey distributor sold to private equity buyer

GREELEY — Rice’s Honey LLC was sold to Falfurrias Capital Partners in Charlotte, North Carolina, on undisclosed terms.

L.R. Rice founded the local company in 1924, a press release said. Family members owned the firm until 2017 when Tony Landretti was named CEO and it was sold to Mission Consumer Capital in Fort Worth, Texas; Centerfield Capital Partners in Indianapolis, Indiana; and Plexus Capital, also in Charlotte.

The three investors generally buy firms with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $2 million to $15 million, free cash flow of about $20 million and sales to $100 million, their websites and trade journals said.

Falfurrias was founded in 2006 by two former Bank of America C-Suite executives and a private equity veteran. It buys into “growth-oriented, lower middle-market businesses,” its website said. The portfolio includes three food-focused companies: spices and extracts maker Sauer Brands in Richmond, Virginia, and chicken-and-biscuits franchisor Bojangles and bakery Carolina Foods, both in Charlotte.

Falfurrias targets have EBITDA of $5 million to $40 million, and it invests at least $25 million and up to $200 million, its website said. Add-on acquisitions have enterprise values of $5 million to $100 million.

The press release said it takes an “industry first” approach, for instance packaged foods, to buying. The Rice’s buy was its first via Falfurrias’ Fund V, which raised $850 million and closed in September.

Rice’s does business as Local Hive Honey. It sells some two dozen varieties of honey from U.S. growers in different regions that are “influenced by season, location, and weather that give them each a unique flavor,” the press release said.

“Local, raw and unfiltered honey is a booming segment of the marketplace driven by consumers’ growing demands for natural and sustainable products sourced close to home,” according to the release.

Products are in Safeway, Kroger, Sprouts, Walmart and Whole Foods stores, and on Amazon.com.

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