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TRANSACTION SUMMARY
Client:
Wythe-Will Distributing, LLC (“Wythe-Will” or the
“Company”)
Ownership:
Lafayette Investment Parallel Fund, L.P. (“Lafayette”), a
fund managed by Hunt Private Equity Group, Inc.
(“Hunt Private Equity”)
Company:
Wythe-Will, headquartered in Toano, Virginia, is a leading distributor of gourmet foods and fine confections
to retail stores across the United States. Founded in 1961, the Company supplies a wide assortment of
products from over 400 domestic and international specialty food companies to more than 1,500 customers.
The Company primarily supplies premium grocery retailers, such as The Fresh Market and Ukrop’s,
throughout the eastern United States. In addition, Wythe-Will has been the primary supplier of confections
to all of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores nationwide since 1987.
Objective:
Lafeyette acquired its majority ownership in Wythe-Will through a recapitalization of the Company in late
2002. After owning Wythe-Will for approximately five years, Hunt Private Equity decided to seek liquidity
for the investors in Lafayette.
Advisory Role:
VRA Partners was engaged by Wythe-Will to serve as its exclusive financial advisor in the sale of the
Company. VRA Partners executed a broad marketing process approaching both strategic and financial
buyers. The marketing process was lengthy due to the bankruptcy of a large customer and the difficult
financing markets caused by the credit crisis.
Result:
Wythe-Will was acquired by JPB Capital Partners, a Columbia, Maryland-based private equity firm that
invests in lower-middle market companies located throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the
United States. The transaction closed in July 2008.
VRA Partners, LLC | 3630 Peachtree Road NE | Suite 1000 | Atlanta, GA 30326 | P 404.835.1000 | www.vrapartners.com