Cortec Group has sold its remaining equity interest in YETI, a designer and marketer of ice chests and coolers.
Cortec acquired YETI in partnership with the company’s founders, Roy and Ryan Seiders, in June 2012. The buy of YETI was made through Cortec’s fifth fund which closed in 2011 with $620 million of committed capital. Cortec took YETI public in October 2018.
Austin-based YETI designs and sells premium, rotationally molded ice chests and coolers, accessories and related gear sold under the YETI® brand. The company has experienced rapid growth and holds the top market position in the premium cooler category. YETI’s products are sold through national, regional, and local retailers – including hunting and fishing, sporting goods, hardware, farm, and ranch supply stores – and increasingly through its direct-to-consumer online sales channel. In 2019, YETI’s revenue exceeded $900 million.
“Today is bittersweet for me and for Cortec, as we wind down a partnership that began nearly eight years ago with Roy and Ryan Seiders and a company with around $40 million in revenue and 20 employees,” said David Schnadig, Cortec’s co-president and chairman of the YETI board of directors. “Virtually everything about YETI in 2020 is meaningfully different than when we started and all of it for the better!”
“Driven by our beliefs in the team and the YETI brand, we would have preferred to retain our YETI ownership for many more years. However, we are in the business of returning money to our investors in a reasonable timeframe,” added Mr. Schnadig. “In this case, we’re proud of the fact that we generated greater than 25 times invested capital on a gross basis for our limited partners and returned them more than 20 times their original investment on a net basis.”
“Working with Cortec since Dave recruited me in September of 2015 has been a true partnership,” said YETI’s CEO Matt Reintjes. “Cortec provided us with mentorship, guidance, capital and other resources, with the objective of building a bigger, better business that would stand the test of time. We’re genuinely appreciative of all that the Cortec team has brought to the company over the past eight years and wish them continued success with their other portfolio companies.”
Cortec invests in US and Canadian companies with revenues of $40 million to $300 million and EBITDA of $7 million to $35 million. Sectors of interest include healthcare products and services, business and consumer products, value-added distribution, and specialty services. The firm was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in New York City.
YETI completed its IPO and subsequent follow on offerings with capital markets assistance from New Hope, Pennsylvania-headquartered Solebury Capital.
Private Equity Professional | June 9, 2020
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