Atar Capital has acquired WinCup, a manufacturer of disposable foodservice supplies, from BlackRock.
WinCup’s products include dine-in and to-go cups, bowls, containers, lids, straws, and stirrers. The company sells its products across all foodservice channels and does contract manufacturing for many national brands.
According to WinCup, it is the only US manufacturer of biodegradable foam cups, sold under its Vio brand. The company recently launched a new straw product – under the Phade brand – that is both biodegradable and compostable. Phade straws (made from polyhydroxyalkanoate) have the look and feel of traditional straws and the new brand won the Innovation in Bioplastics Award from the Plastics Industry Association in 2020.
WinCup operates eight manufacturing facilities across the US and is headquartered near Atlanta in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
With the closing of the transaction, Brad Laporte has been named as the new chief executive officer of WinCup. Mr. Laporte has been with WinCup since 2016 most recently as its chief operating officer.
“With the support and direction to be gained from working with Atar Capital, we look forward to leading this evolving market with an even broader range of safe, sustainable packaging solutions,” said Mr. Laporte.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic created significant barriers to the timely completion of many M&A transactions around the world, the Atar team successfully circumnavigated these challenges to complete the acquisition of a company of such an exceptional caliber as WinCup,” said Cyrus Nikou, founder and managing partner of Atar Capital. “We are particularly excited about the opportunity this presents to drive major evolutions in foodservice packaging given the profound changes affecting the FMCG industry. WinCup has a clear head start in responding to these ongoing changes. We look forward to supporting the company as it continues to expand into new brands and categories.” Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG), are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost.
“Today there is an accelerating expectation for eco-friendly packaging solutions, whether in foodservice or in other segments,” said Robert Lezec, senior managing director at Atar. “WinCup has been working diligently to remain at the forefront with a growing portfolio of unique and innovative products and a scalable production footprint that provides proximity to many of the nation’s leading foodservice customers. In this context, we anticipate the next few years to be transformative for WinCup and the customers it serves.”
Mr. Nikou led the Atar investment team that also included Mr. Lezec, Managing Directors Stanley Huang and Vijay Mony, and Senior Associate Roman Zelinsky.
Atar Capital makes control investments in both performing and underperforming lower middle market businesses that have revenues from $50 million and $1.5 billion, and EBITDA levels ranging from negative up to $25 million. Target companies are generally located in North America and Western Europe. Atar Capital is headquartered in Los Angeles with an additional office in London. The buy of WinCup is Atar Capital’s seventh platform acquisition since 2017.
Ares Capital provided debt financing and Lincoln International was the investment advisor to WinCup.
Private Equity Professional | September 15, 2020
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