Tricor Founders’ Ganache invests in Saxon Chocolates

Tricor Pacific Founders Capital has acquired Saxon Chocolates Inc, a Toronto-based maker of fine Belgian chocolate and a wide variety of other confectionery products. No financial terms were disclosed. Tricor Founders, a Canadian private equity family office, made the investment through Ganache Gourmet Inc, which owns Totally Chocolate LLC, acquired last year. Tricor Founders Managing Director Derek Senft, who led the deal, said the investor aims to make further acquisitions in the edible gifting and confections space. The Saxon Chocolates transaction comes on the heels of Tricor Founders’ buy of Keybrand Foods Inc last week.

PRESS RELEASE

Tricor Founders Acquires Saxon Chocolates

Toronto, Ontario – On June 15, 2017, Tricor Pacific Founders Capital Inc. (“Tricor Founders”) successfully acquired Saxon Chocolates Inc. (“Saxon”), a manufacturer of fine Belgian chocolate and a wide variety of other confectionery products with a focus on creating custom gifting programs for specialty retailers.

Tricor Founders made its investment in Saxon through Ganache Gourmet Inc. (“Ganache Gourmet”), which owns Tricor Founders’ existing investment in Totally Chocolate LLC (“Totally Chocolate”), a specialty chocolate company capable of custom molding premium Belgian chocolate and digitally printing packaging to individual customer requirements.

“The edible gifting and confections market is really large, and yet Saxon Chocolates is a truly unique company within the sector. There really aren’t many other businesses like it. We hope to make further acquisitions adding capabilities and expanding our footprint over the years,” stated Derek Senft, Managing Director of Tricor Founders who led the transaction.

“We look forward to working with Tricor Founders. They are the best partner for Saxon’s customers and employees, they share our values and our passion for this business, they own the highly complementary Totally Chocolate business, and they have a very long-term investment horizon. We will go further together than we could alone.” said Johan De Greef, founder of Saxon.

“The acquisition is consistent with our strategy of making control investments in food businesses, with EBITDA of $3 to $10 million, across Canada and the Mid-West and Western USA,” stated Richard Harris, Managing Director of Tricor Founders. “We are also pleased to announce the hiring of Ranjit Vazhapilly who has joined Ganache Gourmet with responsibility for both Saxon Chocolates and Totally Chocolate and will be based in Toronto. Ranjit is an experienced senior food industry executive, with strong expertise in operations and supply chain management.”

Collins Barrow provided transaction advisory services to Tricor Founders, Bryan & Company LLP acted as solicitor for Tricor Founders, and Bank of Montreal provided financing.

More Information on Tricor Founders
Tricor Founders is building an integrated but decentralized portfolio of food businesses. Its existing portfolio is focused on edible gifts and confections (through Ganache Gourmet), specialty protein (through Purewater Foods), and prepared foods (through Freshstone Kitchen). These sub-sectors of the food industry are the highest priority for future investments. Tricor Founders combines 25 years of private equity experience in over 80 companies with deep operating knowledge. We do not manage institutional capital, but rather invest our own capital and focus on applying operating know-how in order to build thriving organizations over the long term. We are a unique buyer that combines a respect for the founder, an industry-focused investment strategy, industry-specific operating expertise, a long track record of transacting with certainty, together with a longer term investment horizon of 15+ years. (www.tricorfounders.com)

More Information on Saxon
Based in Toronto, ON, and established in 1994, Saxon Chocolates Inc. is a manufacturer of beautifully packaged premium chocolates. The Company provides product solutions and collections to its retail partners. Adding value by creating custom programs that can vary from simple label changes to the development of complete flavour profiles or products, packaging and graphic design. (www.saxonchocolates.com)

For more information please contact Derek Senft, Managing Director (derek.senft@tricorfounders.com; 604-726-5051) or Richard Harris, Managing Director (richard.harris@tricorfounders.com; 604-646-4372).

Photo courtesy of Saxon Chocolates Inc