IRI Acquires Leading Supply Chain Analytics Provider, RSi
CHICAGO — Oct. 8, 2020 — IRI®, a global leader in innovative solutions and services for consumer, CPG, retail and media companies, today announced that it has acquired Retail Solutions, Inc. (RSi), the leading provider of supply chain solutions for CPG manufacturers and retailers. The addition of RSi’s solutions to the industry-leading IRI Liquid Data® technology platform will offer the industry’s most comprehensive supply chain solution, as well as the largest repository of de-identified and anonymous consumer data assets in the CPG industry, delivering long-term increased value and impact to clients.
“The acquisition of RSi builds upon IRI’s long track record of continuous investment in technology, solutions and data assets,” said Andrew Appel, president and chief executive officer, IRI. “IRI remains laser-focused on serving the CPG and retail industries with innovative solutions that help our clients address their most challenging issues to deliver highly differentiated capabilities and impact to clients. The investment in RSi to enhance our supply chain optimization capabilities is a direct response to our clients’ needs as they navigate disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Baljit Dail, president of IRI Global, added, “Optimizing supply chain through better end-to-end visibility, efficiency and execution has never been more important to retailers and manufacturers across the CPG landscape. The addition of RSi’s leading solutions to our broader portfolio of offerings will further enhance our robust capabilities and enable retailers and manufacturers to drive tangible ROI and capitalize on opportunities in a dynamic environment.”
RSi’s proven products and solutions have been used by more than three-fourths of the world’s 50 largest CPG manufacturers to maximize their on-shelf availability, operational productivity and omnichannel sales growth. In particular, RSi’s leading suite of on-shelf availability (“OSA”) solutions, OSAPower, includes a full spectrum of AI-driven tools to diagnose, reduce and prevent out-of-stocks. RSi powers its solutions with data from over 150 of the top retailers, to deliver insights to over 500 global CPG customers today.
Bert Clement, chief executive officer of RSi, said, “IRI is the ideal partner to build upon our existing suite of solutions and enable our clients to further optimize their supply chains, and we’re thrilled to be joining forces with them.”
“With access to enhanced data, technology, solutions and resources, existing RSi clients will be even better positioned to make smarter, faster decisions that maximize efficiency and drive growth,” added Stuart Careford, chief customer officer of RSi.
Benefits to IRI and RSi clients include:
- Unparalleled suite of supply chain solutions: Adding RSi’s comprehensive, industry-leading supply chain offerings to IRI’s existing supply chain capabilities will provide seamless integration of currently disparate data assets, creating comprehensive end-to-end supply chain visibility and enabling clients to more efficiently identify and address operational bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
- Expanded market coverage: The combination of IRI and RSi data assets creates the largest repository of store- and warehouse-level supply chain data, enabling unrivaled national supply chain solutions and capabilities.
- Enhanced collaboration between retailers and manufacturers: The integration of RSi’s solutions, including its Pacific platform, within IRI Liquid Data provides unprecedented collaboration capabilities within the supply chain ecosystem, creating opportunities to significantly improve clients’ core supply chain metrics.
- Seamless technology and data integration: Ability to access RSi solutions through IRI’s industry-leading IRI Liquid Data® platform will deliver intuitive, groundbreaking and results-oriented analytics and business intelligence in near real time, fully integrated with other IRI solutions and data assets. In particular, RSi’s leading suite of on-shelf availability (“OSA”) solutions, OSAPower, includes a full spectrum of AI-driven tools to diagnose, reduce and prevent out-of-stocks.
- The most intelligent Digital Shopper Marketing analytics: As part of the merger, RSi’s Ansa solutions will be offered by IRI’s Media Center of Excellence. Ansa, a three-time winner of Shopper Marketing Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award, empowers ad networks with the intelligence they need to plan, target, optimize and measure their campaigns based on daily, store-level sales and inventory.
- Augmented decision-making: IRI’s unparalleled data assets, extensive geographical coverage, and artificial intelligence and data science capabilities will enhance the supply chain offerings previously provided by RSi by incorporating augmented decision-making capabilities. IRI’s advanced platform pushes opportunities and risks to users in a seamless and efficient manner, including opportunities to improve on-shelf availability and reduce out-of-stocks, to drive both top-line and bottom-line growth along with superior in-store consumer experience.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to IRI. Wells Fargo Securities, LLC served as exclusive financial advisor and Cooley LLP served as legal advisor to RSi.
In the near term, RSi will become a stand-alone operating subsidiary of IRI. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
About IRI
IRI is a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights that help CPG, OTC health care organizations, retailers, financial services and media companies grow their businesses. A confluence of major external events — a change in consumer buying habits, big data coming into its own, advanced analytics and personalized consumer activation — is leading to a seismic shift in drivers of success in all industries. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated on an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI is empowering the personalization revolution, helping to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to remain relentlessly relevant, capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com.
About RSi
Retail Solutions, Inc. (RSi) transforms retail data into sales and profit for over 500 of the world’s leading manufacturers and retailers, enabling them to increase their sales and reduce their costs every day in 300,000+ stores around the globe. RSi’s retail applications, analytics and collaboration platforms empower customers with the intelligence they need to flawlessly manage their on-shelf availability and sales, delivering measurable ROI and increased profits to their organizations. Located in 15 countries around the world, RSi’s 300 employees are focused on one thing: driving customer value through industry-leading retail intelligence. If you need to increase your retail sales and profitability, RSi can deliver. Visit www.retailsolutions.com to learn more.
IRI Contact:
Shelley Hughes
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1 312.474.3675
RSi Contact:
Mike Quinn
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1 415.846.2110
Triton International Announces Pricing of Secondary Offering of Common Shares By Vestar & Affiliates
HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 1, 2020 – Triton International Limited (NYSE:TRTN) (the “Company” or “Triton”) today announced the pricing of the previously announced public secondary offering of an aggregate of 10,706,982 common shares by Vestar Capital Partners LLC and certain affiliated funds (the “selling shareholders”) at a price to the public of $38.25 per share. The Company is not selling any common shares in the offering and will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the common shares by the selling shareholders. The offering is expected to close on October 5, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions.
Following the sale of the shares, the selling shareholders will no longer own any of the Company’s common shares.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is acting as sole underwriter for the offering.
The offering is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement, previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and a related prospectus, copies of which, when available, may be obtained on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or by contacting Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: 1-866-471-2526, facsimile: 212-902-9316 or by emailing [email protected].
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release, other than purely historical information, including statements regarding the expected closing of the secondary offering, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements that include the words “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “project,” “anticipate,” “will,” “may,” “would” and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature may be used to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements address matters that involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Triton’s control. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such statements and, therefore, you should not place undue reliance on any such statements.
These factors include, without limitation, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory conditions and the following: risks and uncertainties related to capital markets conditions; that the offering, which is subject to customary conditions, could be terminated; the impact of COVID-19 on our business and financial results; decreases in the demand for leased containers; decreases in market leasing rates for containers; difficulties in re-leasing containers after their initial fixed-term leases; our customers' decisions to buy rather than lease containers; our dependence on a limited number of customers for a substantial portion of our revenues; customer defaults; decreases in the selling prices of used containers; extensive competition in the container leasing industry; difficulties stemming from the international nature of our business; decreases in the demand for international trade; disruption to our operations resulting from the political and economic policies of the United States and other countries, particularly China, including but not limited to the impact of trade wars and tariffs; disruption to our operations from failures of, or attacks on, our information technology systems; disruption to our operations as a result of natural disasters; our compliance or failure to comply with laws and regulations related to economic and trade sanctions, security, anti-terrorism, environmental protection and corruption; our ability to obtain sufficient capital to support our growth; restrictions imposed by the terms of our debt agreements; changes in tax laws in, Bermuda, the United States and other countries and other risks and uncertainties, including those risk factors set forth in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), on February 14, 2020, in any Form 10-Q filed or to be filed by Triton, and in other documents we file with the SEC from time to time. Except to the extent required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
About Triton International Limited
Triton International Limited is the world’s largest lessor of intermodal freight containers. With a container fleet of over 6.0 million twenty-foot equivalent units ("TEU"), Triton’s global operations include acquisition, leasing, re-leasing and subsequent sale of multiple types of intermodal containers and chassis.
Vestar Announces Two Promotions
NEW YORK, NY – July 22, 2020 – Vestar Capital Partners, a leading U.S. private equity firm, today announced it has promoted R. Wilson Orr to Vice President, effective July 1. The firm also announced the promotion of Ian Singleton to Senior Associate.
“Even in the midst of the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot lose sight of the importance of building and nurturing our employees, and we remain committed to recognizing our talented investment professionals for their dedication and hard work,” said Dan O’Connell, CEO and Founder of Vestar. “We are pleased to promote Wilson and Ian, and we look forward to their continuing contributions to our team.”
A member of the Firm’s Business & Technology Services Group with experience in Healthcare Information Technology, Mr. Orr joined Vestar in 2017 after working as an analyst in the Diversified Industries Investment Banking group at J.P. Morgan. Mr. Orr holds a B.S. in Business Administration, summa cum laude, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Robertson Scholar.
Mr. Singleton joined Vestar in 2019, having previously been an associate at Ares Management in their U.S. Direct Lending group. He began his career as an analyst in the Financial Sponsors Group at Citigroup. Mr. Singleton graduated with a B.A. in Psychology, with honors, and a minor in Economics from Duke University.
Vestar Capital Partners Closes Fund VII with $1.1 Billion in Capital Commitments
New York, NY – February 3, 2020 – Vestar Capital Partners, a leading U.S. middle-market private equity firm, announced today that it has closed Vestar Capital Partners VII, L.P. (“Vestar VII”) with $1.1 billion in capital commitments.
Vestar VII exceeded its $1 billion target and includes a commitment of $100 million from the General Partner and its partners and affiliates. Vestar employs a thematic approach to generate investment opportunities, leveraging its deep industry knowledge and experience to help drive transformative value creation in its three key sectors. The fund seeks to invest in profitable and growing companies in the Consumer, Business & Technology Services, and Healthcare sectors, with a focus on family- and founder-owned opportunities.
Vestar VII has already completed two platform investments to date – IRI, a global provider of big data, predictive analytics, and forward-looking insights for consumer, retail, and media companies, and Simple Mills, a leading innovative and disruptive better-for-you food brand.
Commitments came from a select group of institutional investors, a substantial majority of whom have been previous investors with the firm, and encompass a diverse mix of investors from North America, Europe, and the Middle East, including leading charitable foundations, public and corporate pensions, financial institutions, funds-of-funds, and family offices. The firm’s prior fund, Vestar Capital Partners VI, closed at $814 million in 2013, and has made 12 investments and 17 add-on acquisitions. Since its inception, the firm has raised seven private equity funds, investing $8 billion across 83 companies with a total value of approximately $50 billion.
“We are gratified by the support from many long-term investors in Vestar VII, which we believe is recognition of our successful strategy and long-term performance,” said Dan O’Connell, CEO and Founder. “Vestar’s talented investment team consistently leverages deep sector relationships to uncover overlooked opportunities, while our Vestar Resources team works closely with company management to deliver operational improvement. We thank our investors for their continued support.”
Monument Group served as placement agent for Vestar VII, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Vestar.
About Vestar Capital Partners
Vestar Capital Partners is a leading U.S. middle-market private equity firm specializing in management buyouts and growth capital investments. Vestar invests and collaborates with incumbent management teams and private owners to build long-term enterprise value, with a focus on Consumer, Business & Technology Services, and Healthcare. Since its founding in 1988, Vestar funds have invested $8 billion in 83 companies – as well as more than 200 add-on acquisitions – with a total value of approximately $50 billion. For more information on Vestar, please visit www.vestarcapital.com.
Media Contact
Lambert & Co.
Jennifer Hurson
845-507-0571
or
Caroline Luz
203-656-2829
Vestar Capital Partners Names Pedro Guimaraes as Senior Advisor
New York, NY – January 29, 2020 – Vestar Capital Partners (“Vestar”), a leading middle-market private equity firm, today announced that Pedro Guimaraes has joined the firm as a Senior Advisor focused on the Testing, Inspection, and Certification (“TIC”) sector.
Mr. Guimaraes brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in the TIC sector, having held an array of positions at Bureau Veritas, most recently as CEO of its North American Operating Group. During more than three decades with Bureau Veritas, he held nine executive positions and led large multicultural and multinational teams across North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Mr. Guimaraes will work closely with Vestar’s Business & Technology Services team to actively pursue new platform opportunities in the TIC sector across a variety of end markets.
“We have had a strong interest and investment thesis in the TIC sector for some time now, and we are thrilled to partner with Pedro to actively pursue investments in this attractive segment,” said Nikhil Bhat, Vestar Managing Director and Co-Head of Business & Technology Services. “His extensive network, experience, and operational expertise will be invaluable to our efforts in sourcing and executing new opportunities, as well as adding value to our investments, in this exciting and high growth market.”
“The Senior Advisor program has been an important part of Vestar’s go-to-market strategy since our inception, as these talented leaders help our management team partners invest behind their highest priority growth initiatives,” said Rob Rosner, Vestar Founder and Co-President. “We could not be more excited to welcome Pedro to these ranks, and we look forward to working with him on new opportunities.”
About Vestar Capital Partners
Vestar Capital Partners is a leading U.S. middle-market private equity firm specializing in management buyouts and growth capital investments. Vestar invests and collaborates with incumbent management teams and private owners to build long-term enterprise value, with a focus on Consumer, Healthcare, and Business & Technology Services. Since its founding in 1988, Vestar funds have invested $8 billion of capital in more than 80 investments in companies – as well as more than 200 add-on acquisitions – with a total value of approximately $50 billion. For more information on Vestar, please visit www.vestarcapital.com.
Media Contacts for Vestar Capital Partners:
Lambert & Co.
Jennifer Hurson
845-507-0571
Caroline Luz
203-656-2829
Healthgrades Acquires Evariant
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians and health systems, today announced it has acquired Evariant, a leading healthcare consumer and physician engagement company. With the combination of these two market leaders and innovators, Healthgrades will offer the most comprehensive end-to-end engagement platform in the healthcare industry, enhancing the company’s value proposition for its combined base of 2,000+ hospitals and life sciences customers.
Healthgrades’ products and services enable physicians and health systems to optimize growth through smarter consumer acquisition, patient retention and physician network utilization strategies. The combined offering includes:
- the most advanced healthcare customer relationship management (HCRM) solution;
- a leading physician relationship management (PRM) solution;
- an Engagement Center application that transforms call centers into profit centers;
- a web content management solution (CMS) supporting an integrated digital experience;
- a full-service healthcare marketing agency and strategic services arm focused on accelerating ROI;
- and the most comprehensive consumer website to help educate consumers and connect them with a physician.
This integrated technology platform will leverage more than 30 years of experience with predictive analytics and patient communications to engage consumers at every step of the patient journey, redefining their relationships with healthcare providers in the digital age.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Evariant shareholders will retain a minority stake in the combined company and will have a representative on the Board of Directors. Healthgrades is a Vestar Capital Partners portfolio company.
“Following the successful integration of Influence Health, this acquisition further positions Healthgrades to lead the industry in improving connections between consumers and providers across multiple solutions and media channels,” said Rob Draughon, CEO, Healthgrades. “Since the beginning of 2019, Healthgrades has significantly expanded its product suite, added exciting new talent, and enhanced its ability to innovate, invest and grow. Our goal remains clear: to better inform consumers along their health journey, powered by data and insights, improving the overall care experience and ultimately driving improved health outcomes.”
“At Evariant, we have successfully partnered with health systems to achieve high-value service line growth, extend patient lifetime value and improve network utilization and planning,” said Clay Ritchey, CEO, Evariant. “We are excited to become a part of Healthgrades and look forward to the significant opportunities ahead as the scale of our combined companies will fuel expansion of our products, services and support resources to benefit our collective client base.”
“Healthgrades is a pioneer in healthcare information, and with the addition of Evariant, the company will become the most comprehensive healthcare communications platform in the industry,” said Norm Alpert, chairman of Healthgrades and co-president of Vestar. “Merging the best features of both companies creates an unrivaled solution set for health systems to engage with consumers, patients, providers and other constituencies on a new level.”
MTS Health Partners, L.P. acted as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisor to Healthgrades. Piper Sandler served as financial advisor and Goodwin Procter LLP served as legal advisor to Evariant. Financing for the transaction was provided by CRG, L.P. and CIBC Bank USA.
About Evariant
Evariant, the healthcare consumer and physician engagement company, enables providers to optimize growth through smarter patient acquisition and retention. Our customers achieve indisputable value through high-value service line growth, improving provider network utilization and planning, and extending patient lifetime value. The Evariant Patients for Life Platform™ delivers actionable intelligence that enables healthcare providers to execute best next actions to find, guide and keep patients for life. For more information, visit evariant.com.
About Healthgrades
Healthgrades is dedicated to empowering stronger and more meaningful connections between patients and their healthcare providers. At Healthgrades, we help millions of consumers each month find and schedule appointments with their provider of choice. With our scheduling solutions and advanced analytics applications, we help our health system and life sciences clients cultivate new patient relationships, improve patient access, and build customer loyalty. For more information, visit: https://partners.healthgrades.com. At Healthgrades, better health gets a head start.
About Vestar Capital Partners
Vestar Capital Partners is a leading U.S. middle-market private equity firm specializing in management buyouts and growth capital investments. Vestar invests and collaborates with incumbent management teams and private owners to build long-term enterprise value, with a focus on Consumer, Healthcare, and Business & Technology Services. Since its founding in 1988, Vestar funds have invested $8 billion in more than 80 companies – as well as more than 200 add-on acquisitions – with a total value of approximately $50 billion. For more information on Vestar, please visit www.vestarcapital.com.
Woodstream Acquires Dynamic Solutions Worldwide, Maker of DynaTrap Insect Traps
LANCASTER, Pa., Nov. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Woodstream Corporation, a leading manufacturer and marketer of branded pest and animal control product as well as lawn and garden products, today announced that it has acquired Dynamic Solutions Worldwide LLC, maker of DynaTrap insect traps. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Woodstream is a portfolio company of Vestar Capital Partners.
Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, DynaTrap is a leading provider of insect traps with both indoor and outdoor applications. Introduced in 2006 by Juan Rocha, DynaTrap has grown to be the number-one insect trap company in North America, with its products sold at leading home and hardware retailers including Home Depot, Costco, Sam's, Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon, and Ace Hardware, as well as on QVC, HSN and online retailers. DynaTrap's insect traps, which adhere to the highest quality and safety standards, protect against mosquitoes and other flying insects without the use of pesticides.
"The addition of DynaTrap not only adds a highly regarded and successful product line to Woodstream's existing offerings, but it also introduces us to additional blue-chip clients which complement our current roster of world-class customers," said Miguel Nistal, CEO of Woodstream. "Demand for DynaTrap insect traps has never been higher as new and more potent strains of mosquito viruses develop each year. We are excited to welcome the DynaTrap team, and we remain on the lookout for additional strategic acquisitions that will supplement Woodstream's strong organic growth."
"Woodstream is the perfect home for DynaTrap," said Mr. Rocha, DynaTrap president. "There is a natural synergy between our companies, and through this combination, DynaTrap's products will be introduced to a significant group of new customers. I look forward to helping Miguel and his team integrate the two companies."
About Woodstream
Woodstream is a global manufacturer and marketer of a broad portfolio of branded pest control and lawn & garden products, under brands such as Victor®, Terro®, Perky-Pet®, Havahart®, Safer®, Sweeney's® and Mosquito Magnet®, among others. The company's products, which have leading market share positions within their respective segments, are sold at more than 100,000 retail locations and to professional pest control providers throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other international markets. For more information, please visit https://www.woodstream.com/.
About Dynamic Solutions Worldwide
Dynamic Solutions Worldwide designs, manufactures, and markets innovative and environmentally friendly products for the home and the outdoor living environment. The company's award-winning DynaTrap insect trap is the market leader in the insect control category, protecting against mosquitoes and other flying insects without the use of pesticides. For more information, please visit https://dynatrap.com/
About Vestar Capital Partners
Vestar Capital Partners is a leading U.S. middle-market private equity firm specializing in management buyouts and growth capital investments. Vestar invests and collaborates with incumbent management teams and private owners to build long-term enterprise value, with a focus on Consumer, Healthcare, and Business Services. Since its founding in 1988, Vestar funds have invested $8 billion of capital in more than 80 investments in companies – as well as more than 200 add-on acquisitions – with a total value of approximately $50 billion. For more information on Vestar, please visit www.vestarcapital.com.
Media Contacts:
Blicksilver Public Relations, Inc.
Jennifer Hurson
845-507-0571
[email protected]
Carol Makovich
203-622-4781
[email protected]
SOURCE Woodstream Corporation
Vestar Capital Partners to Make Minority Investment in Simple Mills
NEW YORK, NY—October 7, 2019 – Vestar Capital Partners today announced that it is has entered into an agreement to make a minority investment in Simple Mills, the number one clean-label baking mix and cracker brand and number three cookie brand in the natural channel. Vestar’s involvement will help Simple Mills advance its new product development, brand-building and distribution expansion activities. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in October 2019, were not disclosed.
Based in Chicago, Simple Mills is a driving force in transforming the center grocery aisle with innovative whole-food snack alternatives in categories traditionally lacking better-for-you options. The company’s products are distributed in more than 16,000 stores ranging from Whole Foods to Kroger, Publix, Safeway, and Target. Consumers increasingly demand packaged food products made without artificial ingredients, as well as gluten, grain, dairy, soy, GMOs, excessive sugar, gums, and emulsifiers.
“Vestar is fully aligned with our vision of improving Americans’ eating habits, has the CPG expertise and connections to help us take the company to the next level, and will allow us to continue operating as an independent entity with the same strict clean-food principles that have driven our growth,” said Katlin Smith, Simple Mills founder and CEO. “It’s an ideal match that gives us new resources to expand our footprint and influence on the clean-food movement.”
“Simple Mills has helped shape the next generation natural food movement, fundamentally changing consumers’ concept of healthy food,” said Winston Song, managing director, Vestar. “We are excited to partner with Katlin, a true visionary in this space, to grow the company as it develops new products and enters new categories in the cleaner food category while staying true to Simple Mills’ brand promise.”
About Vestar Capital Partners
Vestar Capital Partners is a leading U.S. middle-market private equity firm specializing in management buyouts and growth capital investments. Vestar invests and collaborates with incumbent management teams and private owners to build long-term enterprise value, with a focus on Consumer, Healthcare, and Business Services. Since its founding in 1988, Vestar funds have invested $8 billion of capital in more than 80 investments in companies – as well as more than 200 add-on acquisitions – with a total value of approximately $50 billion. For more information on Vestar, please visit www.vestarcapital.com.
About Simple Mills
Founded in 2012, Simple Mills offers more than 30 baking mixes, crackers, cookies, bars and frostings that are free of gluten, grain, dairy, soy, GMOs, excessive sugar, gums, emulsifiers, and anything artificial. All products are made exclusively with real, whole-food ingredients like nutrient-dense almond flour, unrefined coconut sugar and sprouted seeds that work hard for the body in every bite while delivering taste that regularly earns five-star ratings from customers. For more information, visit www.simplemills.com.
Media Contacts for Vestar Capital Partners:
Lambert & Co.
Jennifer Hurson
845-507-0571
Caroline Luz
203-656-2829
Media Contacts for Simple Mills:
Jill Schmidt
847-904-2806
Rick Kash and Dimitri Panayotopoulos Join IRI Board of Directors
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--“We are very pleased to have Rick and Dimitri — two highly accomplished consumer goods professionals who are well respected in the industry — join the IRI board,” said Jeffrey Ansell, chairman of IRI and a Vestar senior advisor. “Both Rick and Dimitri bring deep insight, knowledge and specialized expertise uniquely suited to IRI’s business, and I look forward to their contributions in driving IRI’s next phase of growth.”
“I know IRI well and have long respected the company’s consistent, leading-edge innovations in the fast-moving predictive analytics sector,” said Mr. Kash. “I look forward to working closely alongside the rest of the Board to support IRI’s strategic initiatives and being part of this exciting company’s future in this dynamic field.”
“Successful brand-building and marketing demand the sophisticated, groundbreaking services and solutions offered by IRI,” said Mr. Panayotopoulos. “I am enthusiastic about working with the IRI team as we continue to enhance and refine analytics that anticipate competitive trends for our clients.”
“Our new directors have exceptional experience building brands and businesses via leveraging insights, analytics and the right strategic choices,” said Andrew Appel, president and chief executive officer of IRI. “We look forward to working with them to further IRI's mission of driving sustainable competitive advantage for our clients.”
Rick Kash
Rick Kash is the founder and former chairman and CEO of Cambridge Consulting Group, one of the world’s preeminent growth-strategy consulting firms, which was acquired by Nielsen Holdings Plc in 2009. Kash joined Nielsen at the time of the acquisition, ultimately serving as vice chairman of Nielsen. Since leaving Nielsen in 2016, Kash, who currently serves as a director of Simply Good Foods, has served on a variety of corporate and nonprofit boards. He is also currently affiliated with Vestar as a director of Woodstream, another Vestar portfolio company.
Kash founded two cancer research companies in partnership with Harvard University. His book, “How Companies Win,” was selected by Fortune magazine as the most important book for business leaders to read in 2011.
From 1995-2010, Kash was one of 36 elected members of the U.S. Senate Business Forum, a group of businesspeople selected by U.S. senators to advise senators and Cabinet members on the economy and U.S. business performance. A native of Chicago, Kash received a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from DePaul University in 2017.
Dimitri Panayotopoulos
Dimitri Panayotopoulos is a former vice chairman of The Procter & Gamble Company, where he had responsibility for the full portfolio of P&G’s brands and business units and more than $80 billion of global revenues. He brings deep experience in driving growth, innovation and executional excellence. Following his 37-year career at P&G, which spanned many of its international operations, he became a senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group.
Panayotopoulos’ distinguished career at P&G included positions in advertising and marketing before moving on to various country manager positions. He led successful initiatives in China that resulted in a multibillion-dollar P&G business and also managed P&G's 110-country market-development organization in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa and spearheaded the creation of a unified approach to building brands and businesses in those markets. After being named Group President of Global Fabric Care, Panayotopoulos helped build Downy, Lenor, and Gain into billion-dollar brands. Panayotopoulos resides in Switzerland and serves on the boards of British American Tobacco Company and JBS Foods International. He also served on the board of Logitech International until earlier this year.
About the IRI Partner Ecosystem
IRI fundamentally believes that delivering differentiated growth for clients requires deep, highly integrated partnering with a variety of best-of-breed companies. As such, IRI works closely with a broad range of industry leaders across multiple industries and sectors to create innovative joint solutions, services and access to capabilities to help its clients more effectively collaborate and compete in their various markets and exceed their growth objectives. IRI is committed to its partnership philosophy and continues to actively enhance its open ecosystem of partners through alliances, joint ventures, acquisitions and affiliations. The IRI Partner Ecosystem includes such leading companies as 84.51°, Adobe, The Boston Consulting Group, Clavis Insights, comScore, Data Plus Math, Dynata, Edison, Experian, GfK, Gigwalk, Google, Ipsos, Jumpshot, Mastercard Advisors, MaxPoint, Ogury, Omnicom, One Click Retail, Oracle, Pinterest, Simulmedia, SPINS, Univision, Viant, and others.
About IRI
IRI is a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights that help CPG, OTC health care organizations, retailers, financial services and media companies grow their businesses. A confluence of major external events — a change in consumer buying habits, big data coming into its own, advanced analytics and personalized consumer activation — is leading to a seismic shift in drivers of success in all industries. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated on an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI is empowering the personalization revolution, helping to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to remain relentlessly relevant, capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190912005164/en/
Edward Don Acquires Shervan Colonel Equipment Corp.
WOODRIDGE, IL / PE Hub / June 1, 2019 – Edward Don & Company, a nationwide distributor of foodservice equipment and supplies, announced today the acquisition of Shervan Colonel Equipment Corp., located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shervan has designed and installed kitchens across the United States, including some of the highest volume restaurants, casinos and resort properties. Shervan Equipment will operate as a division of Edward Don & Company and remain under the leadership of Drew Shervan.
“We are excited to have Drew Shervan join our team,” said Steve Don, CEO of Edward Don & Company. “Drew’s excellent design and project management skills will be a great addition to our growing design-build capabilities.”
Drew Shervan stated, “I look forward to partnering with Edward Don & Company. DON’s nationwide scope and our shared vision of passionate customer service and outstanding foodservice design, will be a successful combination.”
This deal represents Edward Don & Company’s fourth acquisition since its investment from Vestar Capital Partners in March of 2017.