Nature's Best

Client & Engagement Overview

• Sellers were the owners of a second generation, family-owned wholesaler-distributor of health and natural food products serving the Natural Products Industry.
• Distributed a full-line of Certified Organic, Natural and Specialty products to retail stores throughout the Central, Southern and Western United States.
• The seller’s objective was to find the right partner that had the necessary resources, geographic footprint and capabilities to manage the signifcant projected growth of the business.

Challenges

• Nature’s Best benefited from significant recent growth in the business resulting from geographic expansion by one of their top customers, so the sellers were looking for a partner that could effectively serve this growing customer as it expanded geographically, but also compensate the owners for this growth.
• The transaction met certain thresholds for notification to antitrust authorities and it was necessary to manage the Hart-Scott-Rodino review conducted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission & Department of Justice.

Outcome

• While the nature of the business warranted a buyer’s list composed of strategic acquirers, the attractiveness of the industry supported complementing the list with financial sponsors, so a focused set of both strategic and financial buyers were approached.
• Trefethen professionals identified potential buyers, marketed the business, led due diligence efforts and were actively involved in all negotiations leading to the ultimate sale of the business.