JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –Shoreline Equity Partners, LLC (“Shoreline” or the “Firm”), a purpose-driven lower middle market private equity firm, has partnered with management to recapitalize Florida Veg Investments, LLC (“Mr. Greens” or the “Company”).
Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Mr. Greens is a value-added distributor of produce, dairy, and dry goods serving over 1,500 customers including restaurants, hotels, country clubs, caterers, grocery stores, and cruise ships as well as other various export and retail clients.
Since being acquired by Peter Politis in 2011, Mr. Greens has grown from six employees in a 3,000 square foot facility to over 270 employees across three facilities representing 125,000 square feet. As people are becoming increasingly interested in the origin of their food and how it is grown, Mr. Greens has become the go-to source for high-quality fresh produce, dairy, and other goods. With deliveries 365 days a year, 7 days a week, and multiple runs per day, Mr. Greens has set the gold standard for service. Mr. Greens continues to grow rapidly and is immediately pursuing add-on acquisition opportunities across the country. The Mr. Greens management team will continue to lead the Company and maintain a significant ownership position.
Mike Hand, Managing Partner at Shoreline, said, “Peter, Nick, and the rest of the Mr. Greens team have built an incredible business that has redefined customer service in the produce distribution space. We are extremely grateful to be able to partner with the Mr. Greens team to help accelerate growth both organically and through add-on acquisitions.”
Peter Politis, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mr. Greens, said, “We are thrilled with our new partnership with Shoreline as they share our vision for the future of Mr. Greens. As we grow, we will continue to remain committed to holding ourselves to the highest standard on product quality, service, and customer satisfaction.”
Nick Politis, Chief Executive Officer of Mr. Greens, said, “We are very excited to be partnering with Shoreline to continue to grow Mr. Greens and accelerate expansion into new markets across the country. Our partnership with Shoreline will allow us to make significant investments in the business to further enhance our capabilities and chef-driven service model.”
The transaction for Shoreline was led by Mike Hand, Managing Partner; Peter Franz, Partner; Ian Garland, Vice President; Zach Mittelmark, Vice President; and Mike Mancini, Associate. Nuveen, Private Advisors, investors affiliated with The Hillman Company, NXT Capital, and Mr. Greens management have co-invested alongside Shoreline. Senior financing for the transaction was provided by NXT Capital and the junior debt financing was provided by Nuveen. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey represented Mr. Greens in the transaction. Al Recher, President and CEO of Five Star Food Service, and Fred LeFranc, Founding Partner of Results Thru Strategy, advised Shoreline on the transaction and have joined the Board of Directors.
About Mr. Greens
Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Mr. Greens is a produce, dairy, and dry goods distributor serving a large variety of clients, including restaurants, hotels, country clubs, caterers, grocery stores and retail outlets. Mr. Greens delivers 365 days a year, 7 days a week, and multiple runs per day to over 1,500 customers across Florida. For more information, please visit www.mrgreensproduce.com.
About Shoreline
Shoreline is a lower middle market private equity firm focused on actively partnering with leading management teams. The Firm’s goal is to develop and implement collaborative solutions with portfolio company professionals to drive growth as well as scale and optimize operations. Shoreline professionals employ a straight-talking, egalitarian, and transparent approach to working with companies. Our model considers a broader set of stakeholders in our decisions with a meaningful portion of the Firm’s profits being contributed to philanthropic initiatives. Shoreline seeks to lead equity investments of up to $100 million per transaction in support of buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate divestitures. Targeted businesses have enterprise values ranging from $25 million to $250 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $25 million. The Firm strives to partner with management teams of non-capital-intensive businesses primarily within the specialized manufacturing, value-added distribution, and business and industrial services sectors, among others. For more information, please visit www.shorelineequitypartners.com.
