Newport Beach, California, Aug 11 - Marwit Capital Partners II, L.P. (“Marwit”) announced today that Promax Nutrition Corporation (“Promax” or the “Company”), developer and marketer of protein/energy bars and related functional foods, has acquired Pure of Holland, LLC (“PURE Bar”). PURE Bar develops and markets certified organic, raw, vegan, unprocessed and gluten/dairy/soy free nutrition bars in a range of great-tasting flavors. Veronica Bosgraaf, a mom, teacher and guidance counselor in Holland, Michigan, founded PURE Bar in her kitchen in 2003 after a long search for nutritious snacks for her young daughter who had become a vegetarian. Since that time, PURE Bar has grown rapidly. Today, PURE Bar is carried at Whole Food Markets, natural food stores and grocery chains such as Ralph's, Meijer and HEB. Ms. Bosgraaf will continue to work with Promax from Holland, Michigan in her role as the founder and head of PURE Bar.
PURE Bars are certified organic, raw, vegan, unprocessed, and gluten/dairy/soy free. They provide 1½ servings of fruit, and contain significant amounts of naturally occurring Omega 3’s, fiber and protein. Most importantly, all six flavors taste delicious.
Though separate brands, Promax and PURE Bar both focus on developing products for active consumers seeking to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Tim Welch, Promax’s President, said, “PURE Bar is a great complementary strategic fit with the Promax brand portfolio and we enthusiastically embrace this partnership. PURE Bar is a fantastic brand experiencing strong growth and we are delighted to have Veronica Bosgraaf joining us to grow the business together.”
Veronica Bosgraaf, founder of PURE Bar, stated, “Promax shares my passion for organic, unprocessed, great tasting food as well as the desire to develop products to maintain a healthy lifestyle. With the support of Promax’s resources, PURE Bar is positioned to grow exponentially. Promax has had much success in marketing innovative products and we are excited to be working with the Promax team to build on the success of PURE Bar.”
Matthew Witte, Managing Partner of Marwit, said, “Since acquiring Promax in 2006, we have been looking to expand our product offerings to the Natural Channel and have met with literally dozens of companies. We found many interesting products but none that we felt had the potential to become a major brand until meeting Veronica and seeing what she had accomplished with PURE Bar in less than two years. We recognize the potential of the organic and natural categories and could not have found a better partner than Veronica Bosgraaf and PURE Bar to work with Promax to expand into this growing and very important market.”
About Promax Nutrition Corporation
Founded in 1992, Promax Nutrition Corporation develops and markets high protein nutrition bars and related nutritional food products that are sold primarily into the food, drug and mass, specialty retail, fitness club, and health food distribution markets. The Company’s largest customers include Trader Joe’s, GNC, Ralphs Grocery, Longs Drugs and 24 Hour Fitness.
About Marwit Capital
Marwit Capital is one of the oldest and most experienced private equity firms in the western U.S. Founded in 1962, Marwit’s investment focus is on lower middle market companies based in California and the Western U.S., with revenues of $20 to $200 million and enterprise values of generally less than $100 million. Marwit specializes in management buyouts, platform LBO acquisitions in partnership with experienced industry executives, recapitalizations, and later stage growth and expansion investments. Marwit seeks to deploy $10 to $30 million of equity capital per Portfolio Company, in one or a series of investments. Marwit Capital Partners II, L.P. completed its final closing on August 15, 2007 at $183.7 million of committed capital.