Wind Point Partners Acquires Palmex
Wind Point invests in leading Latin American snack pellet manufacturer to build North American platform focused on the better-for-you and Hispanic snack segments
Wind Point Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, acquired Palmex S. de R.L. de C.V., a manufacturer of better-for-you and Hispanic snack pellets for salty snacks based in Monterrey, Mexico. The acquisition will serve as a platform to build a North American business-to-business salty snack manufacturer in the BFY and Hispanic segments.
Snack pellets are the intermediate form in many salty snack products, including veggie sticks or straws, three dimensional snacks, food carriers, wavy snacks and other unique forms. The company produces a broad portfolio of wheat, corn and potato-based snack pellets that are sold to large consumer packaged goods companies, regional manufacturers, distributors and “mom-and-pop” retailers across Latin American and the United States. Palmex operates two well-invested safe quality manufacturing (“SQF”) facilities.
Wind Point is partnering with executive advisor partner Jose Luis Prado, who will serve as executive chair of Palmex. Prado is the former CEO of Evans Food Group, a Wind Point portfolio company sold in 2019, and previously spent 30 years with PepsiCo leading snack businesses in the US and Latin America. Wind Point is also partnering with current Palmex management, including CEO Carlos Sanchez and an experienced team of senior leaders who have all been with the business for several years. Palmex is an established market leader in snack pellets in Latin America. The partnership between Wind Point and Palmex will prioritize continued market leadership and growth in core markets, as well as accelerated growth through innovation and new investment to greatly expand the company’s US presence both organically and through acquisitions.
Wind Point is an active investor in the food and beverage sector, with select prior and current investments including good2grow, Tropicale Foods, Stir Foods, Gehl Food & Beverage, Nonni’s, FoodScience, Hearthside Food Solutions and Evans Food Group.
Winston & Strawn LLP and Rich, Mueller and Nicolau, SC served as legal counsel to Wind Point. KPMG LLP provided transaction advisory services in connection with the transaction.
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