Dallas, TX – Kainos Capital (“Kainos”), a food and consumer-focused private equity firm, today announced that David Gassko and Jeff Moredock have been promoted to Partner. Mr. Gassko and Mr. Moredock were previously Principals, each with over a decade of investing and investment banking experience in the food and consumer sectors.

Andrew Rosen, Managing Partner of Kainos, said: “We are very proud to recognize David and Jeff with these well-earned promotions. Both David and Jeff have steadily moved up our ranks, demonstrating impressive investment acumen and business savvy along the way. They have played a significant role in our deal sourcing, execution, and portfolio oversight, while enhancing our executive recruitment and broadening our industry network. We are thrilled to welcome them as Partners and look forward to their continued contributions to our Firm and portfolio companies.”

Mr. Gassko joined Kainos in 2013 as an Associate. Following business school, he returned to Kainos as a Vice President. He began his career as an investment banker with Wells Fargo Securities. Mr. Gassko holds an MBA, with honors, from The Wharton School, and a B.A. in Economics and English, cum laude, from Rice University.

Mr. Moredock joined Kainos in 2017 as a Vice President. He was previously a Vice President at CenterOak Partners and an Associate at Brazos Partners. He began his career as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank’s M&A Group. Mr. Moredock holds an MBA, with distinction, from Harvard Business School, and a BA in economics and history, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University.

Fresno, CA — Specialty Sales, LLC (d.b.a. “Hoofstrong”), a leading provider of hoof health solutions to the U.S. dairy industry, today announced the appointment of Matthew Nelson as CEO. Mr. Nelson is a veteran executive with over 20 years of animal health and dairy management experience. Most recently, he served as Commercial Head of Animal Health and Nutrition at Balchem Corporation, where he meaningfully grew the business through distribution expansion and acquisitions. Don Alsup, co-founder and former CEO, has been named Chairman of the Board. Specialty Sales is a portfolio company of Kainos Capital, a consumer-focused private equity firm that invests in strategically relevant growth companies in the food, pet, animal health, specialty distribution and services industries.

Mr. Alsup said, “We are pleased to welcome Matt to Specialty Sales. Matt has an impressive track record of success across some of the most respected companies in the dairy industry. He understands the strategic role of technology and the importance of providing worry-free solutions to dairy farmers that improve the profitability of their operations. He is the right leader to take Specialty Sales to the next level through product innovation, geographic expansion, and acquisitions.”

Jeff Moredock, Principal at Kainos Capital, said, “Specialty Sales is on a remarkable growth trajectory thanks to Don’s leadership and the culture his team has built over the past 24 years. Matt is uniquely qualified to lead Specialty Sales given his professional background that spans animal health and nutrition across bovine, poultry, swine, equine and companion animals. He understands what dairymen need. We are excited that Don will continue to serve Specialty Sales as Chairman and help us evaluate new opportunities.”

Mr. Nelson said, “Specialty Sales reliably provides a valuable service to nearly three million cows on a daily basis, and I have a firsthand appreciation for its product and service offering given my background in large animal production and health. I look forward to serving our customers and introducing new technology-enabled services and products to them in the future.”

Prior to joining Balchem, Nelson led the U.S. Poultry Unit of Boehringer-Ingelheim, was Senior Director of U.S. Ruminant & Equine Marketing at Merial, and was a Director of Sales and Marketing Operations at Zoetis. He began his career in high school with his own dairy cows that eventually led him to Aardema Dairy Group in Idaho.

About Specialty Sales

Founded in 1999, Specialty Sales (d.b.a. Hoofstrong) is the leader in hoof health solutions for dairy cows in the United States. Its mission is to eliminate lameness within your dairy herd. The Company provides automated hoof baths and chemical solutions nationwide to more than 1,600 dairies. Hoofstrong’s automated hoof baths remove the hassle of mixing chemicals onsite and ensures the hoof bath solution is ready for every cow, providing economic savings and peace of mind for farmers everywhere www.hoofstrong.com.

About Kainos Capital

Kainos Capital is a middle-market private equity firm with a focus on the food, pet, animal health, specialty distribution and services sectors. The Kainos team has extensive investment and operating experience in the industry, having invested approximately $3 billion of equity in more than 40 transactions with a total transaction value of over $6 billion. The Firm’s strategy is to build a diversified portfolio of growing and strategically relevant food and consumer businesses.

For more information, visit Kainos Capital’s website at www.kainoscapital.com.

Catherine Anne Prideaux Returns as Vice President; Gage Baumli, Cate Mason and Molly Swenson join as Associates; Brooks Thomas promoted to Senior Associate

Dallas, TX – Kainos Capital (“Kainos”), a food and consumer-focused private equity firm, announced today that Catherine Anne Prideaux has returned to the firm as a Vice President. Ms. Prideaux first joined Kainos in 2018 and served as an Associate and Senior Associate before attending the Wharton School where she recently earned her MBA. Ms. Prideaux will be actively involved in the evaluation, execution, and management of portfolio companies, and will help lead Kainos’ Associate recruiting and development activities.

Kainos also welcomes three new Associates: Gage Baumli, Cate Mason and Molly Swenson. Additionally, the firm announced that Brooks Thomas has been promoted to Senior Associate from Associate.

Rosen added, “We are especially pleased to welcome Catherine Anne back to Kainos as a Vice President. During her first tenure on the Kainos team, she consistently demonstrated exceptional skill and work ethic, and in this elevated role she will undoubtedly add tremendous leadership and value to our investment process, our portfolio company Change Capital approach, and our culture.”

These team enhancements follow Kainos’ appointment last week of Doug Reader as a Senior Managing Director responsible for leading the Kainos Operations Team and serving as a strategic partner to the firm’s portfolio companies.

Biographies for all the professionals named in this release can be found at kainoscapital.com/about.

About Kainos Capital
Kainos Capital is a middle-market private equity firm with a focus on the food and consumer products and services sectors. The Kainos team has extensive investment and operating experience in the industry, having invested approximately $3 billion of equity in more than 40 transactions with a total transaction value of over $6 billion. The Firm’s strategy is to build a diversified portfolio of growing and strategically relevant food and consumer businesses.

Will Lead Kainos Operations Team and Serve as Strategic Partner to Portfolio Companies

“Having worked with Doug for over a decade, we are confident in his ability to help us create value by building best-in-class food and consumer products companies.”

About Kainos Capital
Kainos Capital is a middle-market private equity firm with a focus on the food and consumer products and services sectors. The Kainos team has extensive investment and operating experience in the industry, having invested approximately $3 billion of equity in more than 40 transactions with a total transaction value of over $6 billion. The Firm’s strategy is to build a diversified portfolio of growing and strategically relevant food and consumer businesses.

Dallas, TX – Kainos Capital LP (“Kainos” or the “Firm”), a private equity firm focused on the food and consumer products and services sectors, today announced the successful closing of Kainos Capital Partners III LP (“Fund III” or the “Fund”) with over $1 billion in capital commitments, the largest investment vehicle in Kainos’ history. Existing Kainos investors provided a significant amount of Fund III’s capital and referred many new investors to the Fund.

Kainos seeks to build strategically relevant food and consumer companies by implementing Change Capital initiatives, and leveraging its industry experience and relationships to help partner businesses capitalize on their growth opportunities and improve profitability. Many of the partners at Kainos have been investing in the food and consumer industry for over 20 years and several were senior leaders in the industry prior to joining Kainos.

The dedicated Kainos Operations Team works with portfolio companies to help drive manufacturing process improvement, supply chain and purchasing savings, financial organization and analysis, information technology enhancements, and talent recruitment and retention. Additionally, the Kainos team owns a controlling ownership stake in MEMCO Engineering Solutions, a company that designs and implements customized, automated food and beverage manufacturing production systems, and works extensively with the Firm’s portfolio companies.

Consistent with Kainos’ approach over the past decade, Fund III primarily will target family-owned businesses and corporate carve-outs in the food and consumer products sectors with at least $10 million in EBITDA. Kainos has found that these sellers – several of whom are investors in Fund III – frequently value Kainos’ sector experience and operating capabilities, often retaining ownership stakes in the businesses Kainos acquires. Fund III can commit in excess of $300 million of equity, and potentially more with our Limited Partner co-investment program, in any single transaction.

To date, Fund III is approximately one-third invested across three platform acquisitions: CellCore Biosciences, a wellness company that provides dietary supplements that are primarily sold through the practitioner channel; Specialty Sales, a specialty dairy cow health distribution business; and Evriholder Products, a provider of impulse products and merchandising solutions for retailers.

Fund II’s portfolio currently includes Wellful (portfolio of health and wellness brands including Nutrisystem, Nugenix and Super Beta Prostate), Whisps (cheese snacks), Muenster (pet food), and BeautyBio (skincare products). Previously exited portfolio companies include Kettle Cuisine (soup and meal solutions), Ferraro Foods (specialty foodservice distribution), Olde Thompson (private label spices), good2grow (children’s beverages), SlimFast (weight management products), Country Fresh (fresh produce supplier), Florida Foods (specialty clean ingredients), and Trilliant (coffee products).

About Kainos Capital
Kainos Capital is a middle-market private equity firm with a focus on the food and consumer products and services sectors. The Kainos team has extensive investment and operating experience in the industry, having invested approximately $3 billion of equity in more than 40 transactions with a total transaction value of over $6 billion. The firm’s strategy is to build a diversified portfolio of growing and strategically relevant food and consumer businesses.

Portfolio of leading health and wellness brands providing a better path to better health

Charlotte, NC and Fort Washington, PA – Wellful, Inc. (“Wellful”) was unveiled today as the new name of the parent company of Nutrisystem and Adaptive Health, which strategically merged in 2021 to form the premier direct-to-consumer and omnichannel health and wellness company.

The new identity reflects the organization’s unified vision of combining best-in-class technology with scientifically formulated solutions to help consumers live happier and healthier lives. Wellful’s portfolio of clinically studied wellness brands includes Nutrisystem, the leading direct-to-consumer meal solution for healthy weight management and Nugenix, the #1 men’s vitality brand. The company’s portfolio also includes other well known brands such as Instaflex, Super Beta Prostate, Peptiva, and Dr. Sinatra to support joint, digestive, prostate, and cardiac health.

Each business will continue to operate under its respective brand identity that consumers have come to love and trust.

“We are thrilled to announce our new corporate name, which reflects our mission of enabling consumers to achieve their health and wellness objectives through clinically studied solutions,” said Brandon Adcock, Chief Executive Officer of Wellful. “Our brands provide the products of choice for consumers who want control over their wellbeing, and we are proud to empower customers everywhere to live healthier and more active lives.”

“The combination of Nutrisystem and Adaptive Health has helped each business better support customers with a comprehensive assortment of vitamins and supplements, as well as premium healthy eating programs,” said Steve Mikulak, President of Nutrisystem. “Under the Wellful umbrella, we will continue to go to market with a comprehensive suite of weight management and condition specific therapies, and give consumers a truly integrated approach to achieving their health and wellness goals.”

“We created the Wellful platform last year to capitalize on growing consumer demand for science-backed, non-pharmaceutical health and wellness solutions,” said Andrew Rosen, Managing Partner of Kainos Capital, Wellful’s majority shareholder. “Since then, Wellful has made tremendous progress towards helping people live healthier lives, including launching over 30 new products, integrating onto a singular technology platform, and leveraging our combined product portfolio to better service the full spectrum of our customers’ wellness needs. We look forward to further enhancing Wellful’s operations and expanding its product offering through innovation and complementary acquisitions, one of which we just completed in the last 45 days.”

About Wellful
Wellful strives to provide consumers with a better path to better health. Wellful’s brands have a strong history of providing results to consumers. Through Nutrisystem’s weight management solutions, Nugenix men’s health supplements, and Dr. Sinatra heart health products, among others, Wellful has shown a commitment to continued innovation and consumer results. Through its clinically efficacious products and deep brand loyalty, Wellful uses its unique omni-channel model to meet customers wherever they are on their wellness journey to help them accomplish their goals. For more information about Wellful and our brands, please visit wellful.com.

Dallas, TX – Kainos Capital (“Kainos”), a Dallas-based food and consumer-focused private equity firm, today announced that Mike Perloski and Jacob Spitz have been promoted to Senior Associate.

Andrew Rosen, Managing Partner of Kainos, said, “The growth and success of our firm and portfolio would not be possible without the support of our exceptional team. We are excited to recognize our outstanding colleagues, Mike and Jacob, who both embody Kainos’ culture through their hard work, strong drive, team play and execution.” Rosen added, “The professional development of our people is the most important investment we make, and we continue to thoughtfully build and cultivate talent in our investing and operating functions.”

Mike Perloski joined Kainos in 2020 from Credit Suisse, where he was an analyst in the Financial Sponsors Group. He graduated from Princeton University with a BA in economics and a certificate in finance, where he was also a member of the varsity football team.

Jacob Spitz joined Kainos in 2020 from Wells Fargo Securities, where he was an analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group. He graduated summa cum laude from Babson College with a BS in business administration and a concentration in finance.

Dallas, TX – Kainos Capital has recently partnered with CitySquare, a local non-profit organization offering a comprehensive array of social services that address four key areas related to the persistence of poverty: hunger, health, housing, and hope. Its social service programs provide more than 50,000 human touches in Dallas and Paris, Texas.

This month, the Firm spent time at CitySquare’s Food Pantry, providing groceries to 170 families and bagging over 7,000 lbs of food. The Food Pantry operates on a first-come, first-served basis to provide fresh groceries, nutritious meals, and pet products to families and children. These efforts reduce food waste and contribute to fighting the battle to end hunger. Food security is only one of the local impacts CitySquare and its volunteers have on the Dallas community. Over the Holiday season, the Kainos team collected new unwrapped toys and winter clothes for CitySquare, helping ensure those experiencing homelessness were prepared for the unpredictable cold weather and had accessible resources during the Holiday season.

Kainos is dedicated to committing our time and resources to address homelessness, poverty, and hunger affecting the Dallas community through local partnerships like CitySquare.

Dallas, TX – Kainos Capital (“Kainos”), a food and consumer-focused private equity firm, announced today that David Gassko has been promoted to Principal.  As a Principal, Mr. Gassko will be actively involved in leading the evaluation, execution, and management of portfolio companies. He will also continue to help lead the firm’s associate recruiting activities and serve as a member of the ESG Committee.

Andrew Rosen, Managing Partner of Kainos, said: “We are pleased to reward David’s accomplishments with this well-deserved promotion. Since returning to Kainos following business school, David has played a key role in the execution of our investment process and adds value both to our portfolio companies and our firm culture. We are excited for his continued professional development at Kainos.”

After beginning his career as an investment banker with Wells Fargo Securities, Mr. Gassko joined Kainos in 2013 as an Associate. Following business school, he returned to Kainos as a Vice President. Mr. Gassko holds an MBA from The Wharton School where he graduated with honors, and a B.A. in Economics and English, cum laude, from Rice University.

Transaction Builds on Kainos Capital’s History of Driving Transformational Growth

Dallas, TX – Kainos Capital (“Kainos”), a food and consumer-focused private equity firm, announced today that it has sold its portfolio company good2grow to Wind Point Partners.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, good2grow is a branded kids’ beverage company that sells clean label, ready-to-drink fruit juice, fortified water and organic flavored milk. Kainos partnered with the business, which was previously founder-owned, in 2018.

Andrew Rosen, Managing Partner of Kainos, said, “good2grow is a great example of the transformational growth that Kainos seeks in each investment. Early on, we identified better-for-you and convenience as attractive investment themes in our sector, and we were drawn to good2grow’s unique product offering that provides entertaining beverages that meet kids’ nutritional needs. In just three years, despite the COVID-19 pandemic environment, the good2grow management team executed brilliantly on our Change Capital plan to nearly double revenue through expanded distribution, increased sales velocity and new product development.”

Bob Sperry, a Partner at Kainos, added, “By accelerating good2grow’s direct store distribution to nearly full national coverage, we significantly increased in-store display support for our retail partners. Additionally, we strategically expanded the brand from juice to fortified water and organic flavored milk during our ownership, providing more beverage options that kids love and parents feel good serving.”

Gunnar Olson, CEO of good2grow, continued, “We chose to partner with the Kainos team in 2018 with the belief that their sector knowledge and network of relationships – in particular in the c-store channel – would be invaluable, and this proved to be true. They are a great team to work with, and they execute with speed and certainty.”

Rosen added, “good2grow has a world-class leadership team capable of managing a much larger enterprise and we are excited for the company’s next phase of growth under its new ownership.”

Robert W. Baird and Credit Suisse served as financial advisors to good2grow. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal counsel to good2grow.

Proprietary Transaction Builds on Kainos’ History of Partnership with Family-Owned Manufacturing Businesses

Dallas, TX – Kainos Capital, a private equity firm specializing in acquiring and managing food and consumer businesses, is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Mitch and Chad Felderhoff to acquire their family business, Muenster Milling (“Muenster”), a fourth-generation pet food and ingredient manufacturer based in Texas.

Andrew Rosen, Managing Partner of Kainos, said, “We are excited to add Muenster to the Kainos portfolio of companies and to partner with owners Mitch and Chad to build a broader platform in the pet food and ingredient space. We believe Muenster has a powerful value proposition to pet owners seeking clean-label, high-protein and convenient pet food and treats. The Kainos team has been investing behind these themes for many years, and we plan to leverage the Kainos Operations Team to expand and further professionalize Muenster’s manufacturing capabilities.”

“We were introduced to the Felderhoff brothers through our industry relationships and have always appreciated Muenster’s reputation as a first-rate operator with products that truly meet the needs of today’s pet owners,” added Kevin Elliott, Partner of Kainos. “Through this proprietary transaction we are honored to be a part of the next phase of growth for this fast-growing and innovative pet food manufacturing and branded business.”

Mitch Felderhoff said, “We are excited to partner with the team at Kainos Capital, which has been consistently successful in supporting family-founded, growing businesses with their operational expertise, consumer knowledge, and industry relationships with retailers and distributors.” Chad Felderhoff added, “It is very important to us that Kainos values and appreciates the culture that our family has built at Muenster Milling since 1932. Their operational capabilities will be invaluable as we scale the business and add capacity for future growth.”

Jeff Moredock, Principal at Kainos, added, “Muenster is an outstanding company with a strong commitment to innovation and quality. We look forward to implementing the Kainos Change Capital strategy together with the Muenster team.”

About Muenster Milling
Muenster Milling is a 4th-generation, family-owned pet food and ingredients manufacturer located in Muenster, Texas. Since 1932, Muenster has built lasting, impactful relationships with farmers, suppliers, customers, communities, and animals. Muenster specializes in making innovative, freeze-dried and extruded dog food, cat food, and horse feed with a focus on high quality ingredients to provide healthy options for pet owners to feed their pets. For more information, visit www.muenstermilling.com/.

Dallas, TX – Kainos Capital (“Kainos”), a food and consumer-focused private equity firm, today announced that it has agreed to sell its portfolio company Olde Thompson to Olam Food Ingredients, an operating group of Olam International (SGX: 032), a global food and agri-business, in a transaction valued at $950 million. Olde Thompson was acquired by Kainos in May 2018.

Headquartered in Oxnard, California, Olde Thompson is the largest dedicated manufacturer and supplier of private label dry spices and seasonings in North America. Last year Olde Thompson acquired Gel Spice, which further established it as a leader in the spice category. The acquisition created a differentiated bi-coastal manufacturing footprint, unlocked additional channels, and expanded the company’s product offering into pouches, extracts and single serve seasonings for meal kits and other applications.

The Kainos team has invested over $2 billion of equity in over 75 investments with a total value over $12 billion over the last 25 years. Kainos specializes in investing in family and founder owned businesses where it can be a value-added partner and instill a culture of operational excellence through its sales development, manufacturing, supply chain and administrative expertise.

Andrew Rosen, Managing Partner of Kainos, said, “Our investment in Olde Thompson was driven by our thesis in the growing importance of spices and flavorings as consumers seek bolder taste profiles. After meeting Jeff Shumway, the founder of Olde Thompson, nearly a decade ago, we ultimately partnered in 2018 to pursue our shared vision to grow Olde Thompson into the largest dedicated private label provider of spices and seasonings. We accomplished this by investing in our manufacturing capabilities and customer development resources, and the acquisition of Gel Spice from the Engel family in 2020 helped accelerate this strategy and was instrumental in attracting the interest of a terrific strategic acquiror in Olam.”

Jeff Shumway, Chairman of Olde Thompson, said, “Our family acquired Olde Thompson in 1966 when the company primarily sold pepper mills that remain a fixture in homes across the country. Over the years, with the help of our incredible employees, we transformed our company into one of the largest spice companies in the U.S. A turning point in our history was when we partnered with Kainos and its operations team, enabling us to attract world-class talent to professionalize our management team and embark on a capacity expansion and automation plan to make us one of the most efficient spices producers in the industry. We have had a relationship with Olam for more than 15 years, and this broader partnership as part of the Olam family represents an exciting new chapter for Olde Thompson.”

David Sugarman, CEO of Olde Thompson, said, “The acquisition of Olde Thompson by Olam is a terrific outcome for all of our key stakeholders. For our customers, this partnership pushes Olde Thompson to the forefront of ESG as it provides access to Olam’s extraordinary international sourcing capabilities and spice expertise that will allow us to provide a new level of traceability and transparency to the marketplace. Our employees will benefit from additional resources and opportunities that will accelerate our growth even further.”

Andrew Rosen concluded, “This transaction with Olam is a terrific outcome for Olde Thompson and the company’s future has never been brighter.”

Completion of the transaction is expected in Q2 2021.

Sawaya Partners LLC and Lazard served as financial advisors to Olde Thompson.  Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal counsel to Olde Thompson.