Peakstone Closed Deal Announcement: Prairie City Bakery on Sale to McKee Foods

May, 2019. Peakstone served as exclusive financial advisor to Prairie City Bakery Company (“Prairie City” or the “Company”) in connection with its sale to McKee Foods Corporation. With annual sales of approximately $1.4 billion, McKee Foods Corporation is best known for its portfolio of Little Debbie brand of snack cakes, America’s leading snack cake brand. This transaction demonstrates Peakstone’s ability to access large, billion-dollar strategic buyers on behalf of its clients.

Prairie City was co-founded by President and Chief Executive Officer, William Skeens, in 1994.  Starting with one product, Muffin Tops, today Prairie City Bakery offers more than 125 varieties of individually-wrapped and bulk food service products, including Big Cinnamon Rolls, danish, Down Home Cookies, Classic and Premium Donuts, Donut Holes in a Cup and Ooey Gooey Butter Cakes. They sell into the convenience, food service and in-store bakery channels. “Peakstone’s dedicated Food and Beverage industry team executed a highly targeted marketing process that resulted in an outstanding outcome,” said Bill Skeens. “They understood the baking industry and our business. They saw the opportunity presented by a combination between McKee and Prairie City, and executed an efficient transaction process. Peakstone has a dedicated practice covering the Food & Beverage industry and completes numerous transactions in the F&B sector each year.“

McKee Foods Corporation, a family bakery, is a privately-held company based in Collegedale, Tennessee.  In addition to Little Debbie, McKee Foods’ brands include Sunbelt Bakery® snacks and cereals and Fieldstone® bakery food products. Founded in 1934, McKee employs more than 6,200 people.  Mike McKee, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We sought to acquire Prairie City Bakery because they built a great brand with quality, innovative products that satisfy specific retail customer needs. We want to continue that success by following the same great strategy with the same great management team.  We are excited to continue building on this success.

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Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

For additional information please contact:

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

Eric Dziedzic, Managing Director, 312-346-7314, eric@peakstone.com

About Peakstone

Peakstone is a leading investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising for middle market clients. The team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. For additional information, visit www.peakstone.com.

Peakstone Publishes Industry Reports

February, 2019. Peakstone has published eleven updated industry reports, which can be accessed through the links below.  We deliver sector knowledge, experience, and relationships to every client.  We welcome a chance to open dialogue with companies in these sectors to exchange information and viewpoints.

Automotive

Consumer & Retail

E-Commerce

Food & Beverage

Industrials & Manufacturing

IT Services

Packaging

Pet

Restaurant

Technology & Software

Transportation & Logistics

About Peakstone

Peakstone is a leading investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising for middle market clients. Our team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. For additional information, visit www.peakstone.com.

Industry Update: Restaurant Industry Insight Spotlight on Fast Casual M&A Update – February, 2019

February, 2019

For announced transactions, Restaurant multiples saw a modest increase from 9.6x EBITDA in 2016 to 10.8x EBITDA in 2017.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– Durational Capital Partners and The Jordan Company acquired Bojangle’s for approximately $770 million.

– Inspire Brands acquired Sonic for approximately $2.3 billion.

– Del Frisco’s acquired Barteca for approximately $330 million.

– Spice Private Equity acquired Bravo Brio Restaurant Group for approximately $100 million.

Industry Update: E-Commerce M&A Update – February, 2019

February, 2019

Through 2018, strategic buyers accounted for 88% of the E-Commerce M&A transactions with financial buyers making up the difference; during 2017, strategic buyers accounted for approximately 92% of the transactions.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– Nutrisystem acquired Trivity Health for approximately $1.4 billion.

– Quarate Retail Group acquired HSN for approximately $1.8 billion.

– Hangzhou Lianluo Interactive acquired Newegg for approximately $180 million.

– GTCR; Sycamore Partners acquired CommerceHub for approximately $989 million.

Industry Update: Warehousing, Transportation and Logistics M&A Update – February, 2019

February, 2019

For 2018, strategic buyers have accounted for 81% of the Warehousing, Transportation and Logistics M&A transactions with financial buyers making up the difference; during 2017, strategic buyers accounted for approximately 92% of the transactions.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– Variant Equity acquires Coach USA for $270 million.

– Odyssey acquires American Fast Freight for $465 million.

– ATSG acquires Omni Air International for $845 million.

– Blackstone acquires Gramercy Property Trust for $7.5 billion.

– Prologis acquired DCT Industrial Trust for $8.4 billion.

– Kirby Corporation acquired Higman Marine, Inc. for $419 million.

– Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG); MBK USA Commercial Vehicles Inc. acquired Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P. for approximately $670 million.

– EQT Partners AB acquired Global Gateway South Terminal for approximately $820 million.

– Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) acquired Navig8 Product Tankers Inc. for approximately $1.18 billion.

– Knight Transportation, Inc. (NYSE:KNX) acquired Swift Transportation Company (NYSE:SWFT) for approximately $2.97 billion.

– Grupo México Transportes S.A. de C.V. acquired Florida East Coast Holdings Corp. for approximately $2.1 billion.

Industry Update: Pet M&A Update – February, 2019

February, 2019

In 2018, strategic buyers accounted for 96% of the Pet M&A transactions with financial buyers making up the difference; during 2017, strategic buyers accounted for approximately 93% of the transaction.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– Smucker’s acquired Ainsworth for approximately $1.9 billion.

– Hines Resource Group acquired Spectrum Brands for approximately $2.3 billion.

– General Mills, Inc. acquired Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. for approximately $8.3 billion.

– The Riverside Company acquired Petstages for an undisclosed amount.

– The Riverside Company acquired Bionic for an undisclosed amount.

Industry Update: Technology and Software M&A Update – February, 2019

February, 2019

In 2018, Technology and Software transactions value has been higher than 2017 and traded at lower multiples compared to 2017.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– SAP acquired Qualtrics for $8.0 billion.

– IBM acquired redhat for $35.6 blillion.

– Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE) acquired Magento for approximately $1.7 billion.

– SalesForce (NYSE: CRM) acquired MuleSoft for approximately $6.8 billion.

– General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) acquired CSRA Inc. (NYSE: CSRA) for approximately $9.9 billion.

Industry Update: Industrials and Manufacturing M&A Update – February, 2019

February, 2019

Through 2018, strategic buyers accounted for 88% of the Industrials and Manufacturing M&A transactions with financial buyers making up the difference; during 2017, strategic buyers accounted for approximately 90% of the transaction.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– Greif Packaging acquired Caraustar for approximately $1.8 billion.

– DWABTEC (NYSE: WAB) acquired a division of General Electric (NYSE: GE) for approximately $11.1 billion.

– Aviall, Inc. – a Boeing Company – acquired KLX Inc. (NasdaqGS: KLXI) for approximately $4.4 billion.

– Tenneco Inc. (NYSE: TEN) acquired Federal Mogul (NYSE: FDML) for approximately $5.4 billion.

– Knauf Group acquired USG (NYSE: USG) for approximately $6.48 billion.

Industry Update: Automotive M&A Update – February, 2019

February, 2019

For 2018, strategic buyers accounted for 86% of Automotive M&A transactions. During 2017, strategic buyers accounted for 89% of the transactions.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– Constellium acquired UACJ for $140 million.

– American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL) acquired Metaldyne Performance Group Inc. for approximately $3.42 billion.

– Winnebago Industries, Inc. acquired Grand Design RV for approximately $500 million.

– Polaris Industries Inc. (Delaware) acquired TAP Automotive Holdings, LLC for approximately $670 million.

– Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO) acquired Jayco, Inc. for approximately $580 million.

– Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:VITRO A) acquired Pittsburgh Glass Works LLC for approximately $310 million.

Industry Update: Packaging M&A Update – February, 2019

February, 2019

For 2018, strategic buyers accounted for 88% of the Packaging M&A transactions with financial buyers making up the difference; during 2017, strategic buyers also accounted for approximately 82% of the transactions.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– Greif Packaging acquires Caraustar Industries for $1,800 million.

– One Madison Corporation acquires Ranpak for $950 million.

– Cascades acquires Urban Forest Products for $37 million.

– Amcor Limited acquires Bemis Company for $6,875 million.

– Pregis acquires Free-Flow Packaging International (represented by Peakstone) for an undisclosed amount.

– Novolex Holdings acquires The Waddington Group for $2,300 million.