Cyprium Partners Invests $8 Million in Gourmet Boutique LLC
Cleveland, OH – January 9, 2008 – Key Principal Partners® (“KPP”), a $1 billion private equity and mezzanine firm which makes investments in growing middle-market companies, announced today an investment of $8 million in Gourmet Boutique LLC to facilitate its continuing growth.
Headquartered in Jamaica, New York, Gourmet Boutique is a USDA-approved manufacturer of high quality, preservative-free prepared foods to national supermarket chains, regional grocery stores and specialty food retailers across the U.S. (see www.GourmetBoutique.com). The Company services its national customer base with more than 250 distinct fresh and frozen, ready-to-eat entrees, side dishes, salads and wrap sandwiches from manufacturing facilities located in New York and Arizona.
“The capital provided by KPP supports Gourmet Boutique’s planned expansion and customer service enhancement goals,” said Jan Sussman, Chief Executive Officer and owner of Gourmet Boutique. “We have added state-of-the-art capacity in Arizona, further enabling our Coast-to-Coast customer reach”, Mr. Sussman added. Gourmet Boutique’s New York facility was also significantly expanded during 2007.
“Strong consumer trends related to the growing consumption of prepared foods in the U.S. will greatly favor Gourmet Boutique”, said Mike Conaton, a Partner at KPP. “Jan and his management team have worked hard to put the Company in this unique position”.
Robert Liberto, CFO, Andrew Murphy, VP of Operations, and Jere Dudley, VP of Sales, are also owners and long time operators of Gourmet Boutique. “It was a natural progression and the right time to bring this capital into the Company”, said Mr. Liberto. “Our customers will be the ultimate beneficiaries of these improvements in the business.”
About Key Principal Partners
Key Principal Partners (KPP) is a nationally recognized private investment firm providing capital to middle market companies throughout North America. KPP utilizes mezzanine and equity capital to fund the growth, buyout, refinancing or acquisition of profitable companies. KPP’s flexible approach to structuring investments does not require control of companies. KPP has over $1 billion in capital under management and can invest $7 million to $40 million in companies with at least $20 million in revenue. Headquartered in Cleveland, KPP is affiliated with KeyCorp, and has offices in Greenwich and San Francisco.
About KeyCorp
Cleveland-based KeyCorp is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $94 billion. Key companies provide investment management, retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, and investment banking products and services to individuals and companies throughout the United States and, for certain businesses, internationally. For more information, visit www.Key.com.