Bone-appétit! Graham Partners’ Latest Investment Helps Pets Eat Healthier

Graham Partners, a private investment firm focused on investing in businesses with advanced manufacturing technologies, innovative product development capabilities, and strong growth potential, is pleased to announce its investment in BrightPet Nutrition Group, LLC (“BrightPet”), a leading developer and manufacturer of quality premium and super-premium pet foods serving domestic and international markets. Graham Partners created the BrightPet platform through the acquisition of two contract manufacturing businesses, Ohio Pet Foods, Inc. and Southern Tier Pet Nutrition LLC, and the brands of Blackwood Pet Food, LLC, which include Blackwood, Adirondack, and Makin’ Trax dog and cat foods. Headquartered in Lisbon, Ohio, BrightPet serves an attractive segment of the pet food market, focusing on premium and super-premium brands sold through specialty, independent retailers. Additionally, the company holds numerous certifications allowing it to export to international markets, and is one of only a few USDA Certified Organic pet food producers in the U.S.

The premium and super-premium segment of the pet food market holds strong growth fundamentals, driven by pet owners’ increasing tendencies to treat pets like members of their family. Fueled by this broad trend, U.S. pet food sales grew to over $30 billion in 2015, with premium and super-premium pet food taking share from economy-priced products. Graham’s investment thesis in BrightPet focuses on executing several key growth opportunities, including product line expansion, facility enhancements, and add-on acquisitions to further build upon the BrightPet platform.

Joe Heinmiller, Principal at Graham Partners, states, “We are excited about the steady growth we’ve seen in the pet products industry. For a number of years, we have been working actively to identify the right company in this segment to invest in, and believe BrightPet is the perfect fit. We look forward to working alongside the Golladay family, which has owned the company for three generations, to implement operational improvements, increase capacity and drive growth.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Joe Heinmiller (jheinmiller@grahampartners.net)
Christina Morin (cmorin@grahampartners.net)
Tel: (610) 408-0500 / Fax: (610) 408-0600
www.grahampartners.net
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