FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jared Stein [email protected] | (415) 990-2205
Monogram Capital Completes Banner Sale of Western Smokehouse Partners
After four years building the leading manufacturing platform for better-for-you meat snacks, Monogram sells Western Smokehouse to AUA Private Equity Partners
Los Angeles, CA (March 27, 2023) – Monogram Capital Partners, a leading Consumer Private Equity firm based in Los Angeles, has sold Western Smokehouse Partners (Western’s Smokehouse) to AUA Private Equity Partners. Western’s Smokehouse is the category-leading manufacturer of premium, better-for-you meat snacks.
Western’s Smokehouse was founded in 1978 and remained a family-run business for 40+ years. At the time of Monogram’s original investment in 2018, Western’s Smokehouse operated one facility headquartered in Greentop, MO. Over the last four years, Monogram in partnership with management, has expanded the business to four facilities throughout the Midwest, building the market-leading manufacturer of better-for-you products in the meat snack space. Along the way, Western’s Smokehouse has led the category with new innovation including pioneering the first zero-sugar meat stick, driving the category’s growth around cleaner ingredient formulations as well as launching the industry’s first premium multi-pack stick formats. The platform has become the dominant independent player and go-to manufacturing partner for the leading meat snack brands in the space and increasingly, for retailers as well. In the process, Monogram supported the business as Western’s Smokehouse increased its capacity by ~7x over this period.
“Western’s Smokehouse is a paramount example of the types of family-held businesses we love to partner with as we identify a category with long-term secular tailwinds and underserved consumer demand where expansion capital and strategic expertise can help shepherd the business in its transition into an accelerated growth phase,” said Jared Stein, Co-Founder & Partner of Monogram Capital and Chairman of the Board at Western’s Smokehouse. “Western’s Smokehouse started with a storied family history of excellence in product quality in a historically large, underserved and rapidly growing category where formulating and manufacturing a cleaner product was an incredibly difficult task with proprietary IP. In partnership with the Western family, Charis Consumer Partners and the Western’s Smokehouse management team we assembled, we were able to dramatically expand the company’s market reach, launching exponential new innovation, and in doing so, driving the category’s overall branded and private label growth.”
Headquartered in Los Angeles and founded 2014, Monogram has approximately $750M of equity capital under management and focuses exclusively on investing in leading consumer and retail brands, manufacturing and supply chain assets and service providers. The firm seeks to partner with founders and strong management teams, often working with family held businesses as they look to accelerate their growth or effectuate a transition, and typically invests $20-50M of equity per transaction. According to Stein, Monogram’s previous exits include Chewy.com, Grand Fitness Partners, a leading franchisee within the Planet Fitness system, and Vive Organic while its current portfolio positions include Olipop, Genexa, Foxtrot, Mountaintop Beverage and Prime Matter Labs. Western’s Smokehouse was a portfolio company in the firm’s first fund and was advised by Harris Williams as the exclusive sell-side advisor on the transaction and MCLLP as the Company’s counsel.
With respect to the partnership with Monogram, Matt Bormann, CEO of Western, commented “It has been a tremendous experience working with the Monogram team as we expanded upon the storied heritage of this business to dramatically accelerate our production reach and our capability set to help drive the innovation in this meat snack space. I could not have asked for better partners and people to help support the remarkable evolution of the business over the last few years as we led innovation on both the product formulation and packaging fronts for the industry and am excited to continue to extend Western’s Smokehouse category leadership in the years ahead.”
Monogram Capital Partners
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Los Angeles, Monogram Capital Partners focuses exclusively on investing in category-leading consumer and retail brands, manufacturing and supply chain assets and other areas of the consumer ecosystem in partnership with founders and management teams. The firm has approximately $750M of equity capital under management and typically makes equity investments of $20-50M in its portfolio partners. For more information, please visit www.monogramcapital.com.
Western’s Smokehouse
Western Smokehouse Partners is a leading manufacturer of premium, better-for-you meat snacks operating out of four facilities across the Midwest. The Company is the preferred commercialization and development solution for emerging and established brands as well as large retailers, offering a wide array of co-manufactured, private label, and branded products. For more information, please visit www.wspartners.com.