Closed Deal Announcement – Peakstone Advises Duro Bag Manufacturing Company on Sale to Hilex Poly

July 2014. Duro Bag Manufacturing Company has been sold to Hilex Poly, a portfolio company of Wind Point Partners. Duro, based in Florence, KY, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of paper bags for foodservice, grocery, wholesale-distribution and other markets. Duro produces grocery bags, handle bags, compostable paper lawn and leaf bags, and various specialty bags, including lunch bags, pharmacy bags, Freshness Paper™ bread bags, and food service bags, as well as a broad range of premium paper shopping bags for luxury retailers.

Hilex Poly, based in Hartsville, SC, is an industry leading manufacturer of flexible packaging products, ranging from bags for grocery, retail, and food service markets, to can liners and specialty films. Hilex Poly operates 15 manufacturing locations across the U.S. & Canada plus the largest closed-loop recycling facility in the U.S.

The Peakstone Group served as exclusive M&A advisor to Duro in connection with this transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

For additional information about this transaction, contact:

Nick Clementi, Managing Director, 312-201-7300, nclementi@peakstone.com
Eric Dziedzic, Managing Director, 312-346-7314, eric@peakstone.com

About The Peakstone Group

Peakstone is an investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising for middle market clients.  The Peakstone team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. Please visit our website, peakstone.com.

Closed Deal Announcement – Peakstone Advises artizone on Strategic Partnership with Peapod

June 2014. The Peakstone Group (“Peakstone”) announced that it has served as exclusive financial advisor to artizone, Ltd. on its strategic partnership with Peapod.

artizone, founded in 2009, is an innovative e-commerce marketplace and online community that enables consumers to shop over 75 local artisans and consolidate delivery into one order. The partnership with Peapod allows shoppers to combine the best local artisan products with Peapod’s robust and competitively priced every-day selection. artizone’s proprietary cloud-based technology provides an integrated suite of applications for consumers, artisans, and backend operations.

“We selected Peakstone because they were very knowledgeable and experienced in both e-commerce and the consumer food industry. They understood our business objectives, our sophisticated technology platform, and the opportunity we have to establish ourselves as a leader in the new online grocery community”, said Alex Zeltcer, Founder and CEO of www.artizone.com.

For additional information about this transaction, contact:

Cathy Jaros, Managing Director, 312-262-7735, cjaros@peakstone.com

About The Peakstone Group

Peakstone is an investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising for middle market clients.  The Peakstone team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. Please visit our website, peakstone.com.

Closed Deal Announcement – Peakstone Advises Digi Data on M&A Transaction

May 2014. Digi-Data Corporation (“Digi-Data”) has completed the sale of the business to Synchronoss Technologies, Inc.

Digi-Data, based in Broomfield, Colorado, is a leading provider of cloud-based data synchronization, data back-up and data sharing solutions to individual and small business end users. Digi-Data supports hundreds of thousands of customers of several major telecom and cable service providers as a private-label technology provider of cloud data storage software.
Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNCR) is a world leader in cloud solutions and software-based activation serving communication service providers across the globe.

“The Peakstone team was invaluable to the sale process. They developed and executed on a successful sell strategy including coordinating the process from negotiating the letter of intent to signing a purchase agreement. The team was persistent in their efforts to manage the process towards the goal of a successful transaction close” said Bruce Simpson, President and CEO of Digi-Data.

The Peakstone Group served as exclusive financial advisor to Digi-Data in connection with this transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

For additional information please contact:

Jeff Temple, Managing Director, 312-346-7301, jtemple@peakstone.com

About The Peakstone Group

Peakstone is an investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising for middle market clients.  The Peakstone team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. Please visit our website, peakstone.com.

Closed Deal Announcement – Peakstone Advises Pure Pulp on Strategic Investment

March 2014. The Peakstone Group is pleased to announce that Fabri-Kal has made a strategic investment in Pure Pulp.  The Peakstone Group acted as exclusive financial advisor to Pure Pulp on this transaction.

About Pure Pulp

Pure Pulp Products, Inc. (www.purepulpproducts.com) is a manufacturer of biodegradable, molded fiber and thermoforming products, using soy, wheat and annually renewable materials. Their materials are grown and manufactured in America, utilizing biomass waste as a sustainable substrate for packaging.

About Fabri-Kal

Fabri-Kal Inc. (www.fabri-kal.com) is a leading provider of plastic foodservice and custom thermoformed product solutions. As one of the largest thermoformers in North America, Fabri-Kal’s customer base includes thousands of foodservice operators and dozens of consumer product manufacturers. Headquartered in Kalamazoo, Mich., and in continuous operation since 1950, Fabri-Kal employs more than 800 people in five manufacturing, printing and warehousing facilities throughout the United States.

Terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

For additional information about this transaction, contact:
Nick Clementi, Managing Director, 312-204-7300, nclementi@peakstone.com

About The Peakstone Group

Peakstone is an investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising for middle market clients.  The Peakstone team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. Please visit our website, peakstone.com.

The Peakstone Group Expands to Michigan with New Managing Director

January 2014. Richard “Dick” Goff is a Managing Director of the Peakstone Group, where he is responsible for transaction origination and execution. He will be working to expand Peakstone’s services to its clients in Michigan.

He is also the Managing Principal of R. M. Goff & Company LLC, an investment firm that acquires and builds companies in the lower middle market. He has over 30 years of experience in private equity investment, corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, strategic planning and business development.

Richard was previously a general partner with Alpha Capital Partners, Merchants Capital Partners, MBW Venture Partners and Doan Associates. He has invested in and advised companies in manufacturing, distribution and services in multiple industries and at all stages from startups and growth equity to acquisitions, recaps and turnarounds.  He specializes in multi-unit service businesses including oil & gas, energy, renewable energy, healthcare, media & communications, franchise and chain restaurants. He has held operating positions as CFO for a medical instrumentation business and a wind energy company and was the chief restructuring officer for a restaurant chain.

He began his career as a CPA with Coopers & Lybrand. He is a registered CPA and holds FINRA licenses 7, 63 & 79.  He earned a BA in accounting from Alma College, magna cum laude.

Peakstone Welcomes Michael Feldman as Managing Director

January 2014. Michael J. Feldman joins The Peakstone Group with over 30 years of experience advising entrepreneurs, senior management and boards on mergers, acquisitions and capital raising transactions.  Michael has completed transactions with companies in a broad range of industries including  technology, printed electronics, consumer electronics & products, retail, automotive, aerospace, defense, energy and clean tech.

Michael is an experienced entrepreneur, founding three technology companies and, most recently, a middle market advisory firm.  He was also one of the founders of River Capital, based in Michigan, providing similar services for more than ten years.

Michael’s past advisory engagements have been with clients ranging from pre-revenue start up to Fortune 100 companies.  He has successfully closed more than 60 merger, acquisition and capital raising transactions.

Michael graduated from the University of Michigan.

Closed Deal Announcement – Peakstone Advises Saco Foods Inc on M&A Transaction

Closed Deal Announcement – Peakstone Advises Alliance Time Holdings and Ashford.com on Transaction

December 2013. The Peakstone Group (“Peakstone”) announced that it has served as exclusive financial advisor to Alliance Time Holdings (“Alliance”) and Ashford.com on an approximately $70 million shareholder recapitalization transaction.

Alliance Time is the leading wholesaler and Ashford.com is the leading online retailer of luxury watches and specialty jewelry, distributing thousands of products from over a hundred suppliers in over a hundred countries.

“We selected Peakstone because they are very knowledgeable and experienced in e-commerce and understood our business, growth opportunities and shareholder objectives.  They helped us work through a range of alternatives, and we feel that we ended up with the right partners and capital structure, providing us flexibility to expand our capital base as we grow globally,” said Mozes Hoch, Chief Executive Officer of Alliance and Ashford.com.

For additional information about this transaction, contact:

Alex Fridman, Managing Director, 312-346-7303, alex@peakstone.com
Stephen Sleigh, Managing Director, 312-346-7318, ssleigh@peakstone.com

About The Peakstone Group

Peakstone is an investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising for middle market clients.  The Peakstone team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. Please visit our website, peakstone.com.

Closed Deal Announcement – Peakstone Advises Kickapoo Valley Cheese on Sale to Biery Cheese

November 2013. Kickapoo Valley Cheese Corporation (“Kickapoo”) has completed the sale of the company to Biery Cheese Company of Louisville, Ohio. Kickapoo, based in Sherry, Wisconsin, is a cheese packaging company that provides a variety of specialty slicing and packaging services.  Kickapoo’s services include slicing and packaging cheese in shingles and stacks, party trays, cubes, chunks and wedges. Kickapoo works with standard commodity cheeses as well as with a variety of specialty, organic, kosher, and rBGH free cheeses. 

“The sale of my business was the most significant and complex transaction of my career,” noted Jim Leytus, president and owner of Kickapoo. “Steve Royko and the rest of the team at The Peakstone Group were invaluable to the process.  They guided the development of a successful sell strategy; defined, identified and contacted potential buyers; solicited bids, evaluated interested candidates, negotiated letters of intent, helped with the selection of the strongest and most likely buyer; and coordinated the process from letter of intent to purchase agreement.  Steve and The Peakstone team were indefatigable in their efforts to manage the process towards the goal we all desired, the close.”

Biery Cheese Co. was started in 1929 by Norman F. Biery, who started out making Swiss cheese in Louisville, Ohio. The company has evolved from a manufacturing company to a packaging, processing, and distributing company providing chunks, shreds, slices, diced, cubes, and snacking cheeses to its customers.  For over 84 years, Biery Cheese has been servicing customers in all sectors of the cheese business: retail, foodservice, and ingredient.

The Peakstone Group served as exclusive financial advisor to Kickapoo in connection with this transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

For additional information about this transaction, contact:
Steve Royko, Managing Director, 608-236-4490, sroyko@peakstone.com

About The Peakstone Group

Peakstone is an investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising for middle market clients.  The Peakstone team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. Please visit our website, peakstone.com.

Closed Deal Announcement – Peakstone Advises GMSP on Sale to Hoffmaster

September 2013. Graphic Management Specialty Products, Inc. (“GMSP”) has completed the sale of the company to Hoffmaster Group, Inc. GMSP, based in Oconto, Wisconsin, is a leading provider of high-quality tabletop products to the healthcare and food service markets, as well the food packaging and contract manufacturing industries.

Hoffmaster Group, Inc., a portfolio company of Metalmark Capital, is a leading North American paper converting business focused on the design and manufacture of premium paper tableware including napkins, plates, cups and complementary items.

The Peakstone Group served as exclusive financial advisor to GMSP in connection with this transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

For additional information about this transaction, contact:

Nick Clementi, Managing Director, 312-204-7300, nclementi@peakstone.com
Eric Dziedzic, Managing Director, 312-346-7314, eric@peakstone.com

About The Peakstone Group

Peakstone is an investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising for middle market clients.  The Peakstone team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. Please visit our website, peakstone.com.