Combs Produce provides value-added services and solutions for the fresh produce industry, including repacking, ripening and breaks/splits and logistics services. Based in Dallas, TX, Combs provides services to growers, retailers and foodservice distributors in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Louisiana.
CIC's investment in 2008 was made in partnership with CIC operating partner and industry veteran Jay Pack and Comb's management team, led by Brett Combs. The investment positions the 50-year-old family-owned and operated company to accelerate its growth. CIC's investment was structured to allow the shareholders to receive liquidity and capital for growth. In 2010, Jeff Partridge joined Combs as CEO bringing proven foodservice and wholesale executive experience. In 2012, Combs was acquired by Lipman Companies, a large tomato growing operation based in Florida.
CTI Foods is a leading supplier of precooked, frozen and fresh food products to many of the country's leading restaurant chains. Based in Wilder, Idaho, CTI Foods operates facilities in California, Idaho and Texas.
In 2003, CIC partnered with a proven management team led by CEO Kirk Smith, who had profitably managed the growth of the business since 1984, and Billy Rosenthal, an industry veteran and CIC operating partner to lead the management buyout of CTI from J.R. Simplot Company in 2003. Over the next six years, CTI built three new plants and significantly grew the business before selling a majority interest in the company to Littlejohn & Co. CIC Partners ultimately sold its remaining stake in CTI Foods in 2013.
In 1990, CIC Partners teamed with Billy Rosenthal to build KPR Holdings, a food processing start-up headquartered in Ft. Worth, Texas. KPR resulted from the merger of Rosani Foods, a food-service business producing high-volume meat pizza toppings (primarily pepperoni for Pizza Hut), and Kettle Cooked Foods, a young emerging food company producing soups and sauces for various casual dining restaurants.
CIC Partners served as a financial partner to Billy and management, building KPR from the ground up. By developing innovative new products, KPR grew to $95 million in sales before selling to Foodbrands America (subsequently acquired by IBP and then by Tyson Foods, Inc.). Under the watch of the original management team, revenues at KPR grew to approximately $450 million.
L&L Foods, headquartered in Anaheim, California, is a high volume niche food packaging company that specializes in portion control packaging solutions. The company offers formulation and sourcing capabilities through direct relationships with suppliers and focuses on both component and assembly packaging.
River Point Farms, headquartered in Hermiston, Oregon, is America's largest grower, packer and processor of red, yellow and sweet onions. The company is fully integrated with state-of-the-art growing, storage and processing operations to ensure a year-round supply of whole, peeled and sliced onions to various restaurants, foodservice, industrial and retail customers.
Founded in 2005, SPG Holdings is a leading specialty paper products manufacturer with a focus on supplying the restaurant and foodservice distribution industries. SPG has state-of-the-art manufacturing plants in Georgia, Mississippi and Wisconsin with the ability to supply a full suite of paper products including napkins, sandwich wraps, carryout bags and deli paper. SPG employs over 400 employees and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
CIC completed a majority recapitalization of SPG in January 2011. SPG's key principals, with extensive experience in paper products and foodservice supply, maintained a minority equity stake and continued to lead the organization through its next phase of growth. In 2014, SPG was successfully sold to Georgia-Pacific.
Buffet Partners, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates family-style buffet restaurants under the "Furr's" name in across the southwestern U.S. The company also operates a food manufacturing and distribution facility ("Dynamic Foods"), which supplies the company's restaurants as well as third-party customers.
Since the acquisition in 2003, management's strategy has centered on maintaining positive trends in the "all-you-can-eat" business while enhancing sales through conversion of select units into a guest-friendly scatter-bar buffet format. Buffet Partners has also achieved additional growth by significantly increasing third-party sales from its Dynamic Foods facility. CIC Partners also assisted management in the completion of a sale/leaseback transaction on 7 units, allowing the Company to pay down acquisition debt.
With the Company on solid footing, CIC Partners sold its interest in Buffet Partners to management in August 2006.
At the time of CIC Partners' investment in 1990, DF&R Restaurants owned and operated 11 Harrigan's (American cuisine) and six Don Pablo's (Mexican cuisine) restaurants.
CIC Partners saw an opportunity to partner with a great management team in a business with good unit economics and potential to expand the Mexican food concept to middle America. The company added more than 30 Don Pablo's to reach $200 million in revenue by 1996, at which time the company was sold to Apple South (now known as Avado Brands).
Legends Hospitality Management was formed in 2008 with an initial focus on operating catering, concessions, retail merchandising and other facility management enterprises for major sports and entertainment facilities. Legends serves as the exclusive concessions and merchandising services provider in the new, state-of-the-art New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys Stadiums as well as a select group of Minor League baseball facilities. Under Mike Rawlings' leadership as CEO and Chairman, Legends expanded to include premium-seat sales and consulting services, ticket sales training and other services. In 2011, Legends acquired CSL International and CSL Marketing Group, which does sports research and venue marketing.
In 2008, CIC partnered with the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys and Goldman Sachs in a growth capital investment to form Legends. Mike Rawlings, a CIC partner, served as Executive Chairman and CEO of the new enterprise until CIC Partner's successfully divested its stake at the end of 2011.
Main Street Restaurant Group, Inc. is the largest franchisee of T.G.I. Friday's restaurants, the owner and operator of the Bamboo Club – Asian Bistro, the Redfish Seafood Grill and Bar and Alice Cooper'stown restaurant concepts. Main Street operates locations primarily in Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada.
In April 2005, CIC Partners closed a PIPE (Private Investment In Public Entity) transaction to provide growth capital to Main Street. In July 2006, the company was successfully sold to a strategic buyer, The Briad Group, in a take-private transaction. During CIC Partners' ownership period, Main Street successfully restarted new unit development, refinanced its debt structure, and substantially improved comparable store sales and margins. As a result, the transaction provided an attractive return to all shareholders of 3.4x the investment.
Headquartered in Denver, CO, Quiznos positions itself as a higher quality alternative to other Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) and sandwich concepts with its innovative product offerings.
In August 2005, CIC Partners led a significant recapitalization to partner with management in continuing the Company's growth and leadership in the QSR segment. Shortly thereafter, the company executed a second recapitalization led by JP Morgan Partners in May 2006, providing CIC and its investment partners a highly attractive return to all shareholders.
Restoration Hardware (NASDAQ: RSTO) is a 1eading retailer of high-fashion home furnishings, with more than 100 stores and sales exceeding $480 million.
At the time of CIC Partners' investment in 1994, the company had only four stores and $10 million in sales. The retailer was looking for growth capital and a financial partner to assist in establishing a national presence and to lead additional rounds of financing.
With Restoration Hardware's Founder and Chairman, Steve Gordon, CIC Partners filled this role through capital planning, execution and strategic thinking. Together we recruited the current CEO, Gary Friedman, from Williams-Sonoma. The company went public in 1998.
Arcadia generated strong investment returns as an acquirer and operator of energy assets, primarily located in the Southwest.
Bagby Energy is an independent oil and gas exploration company headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Bagby is engaged in acquiring and developing natural gas prospects in the Arkoma Basin of Northwest Arkansas and Southeastern Oklahoma as well as the Barnett Shale of North Texas.
In January 2006, CIC Partners partnered with Howard Bagby, an experienced energy operator, to form and capitalize the company. Mr. Bagby contributed existing energy assets and prospects to the partnership in conjunction with a significant cash investment led by CIC. Casey McManemin, a CIC operating partner, and Kyle Burnett, CEO of Arcadia Exploration, also participated in the financing and serve on the company's board of directors. In 2010, Bagby Energy was acquired by a Barnett Shale natural gas developer.
Dale Gas Partners II ("Dale II") was capitalized by CIC Partners and other investors in March 2008 to back Larry Dale in his non-Barnett Shale oil and gas exploration activities. Dale II is a continuation of CIC's previously successful relationship with Larry in Dale Gas Partners, LP, and is focused on domestic resource plays and conventional plays with significant running room outside of the Barnett Shale.
Stronghold Energy Partners is a partnership formed by CIC Partners and Weatherl Energy Investments, L.P., a private, Midland, Texas based prospect origination and oil and gas investment company, to identify and acquire properties prospective for oil and gas development in the Permian Basin.
Triumph Pacific Oil and Gas Company is engaged in the acquisition, development and production of natural gas reserves from conventional and unconventional reservoirs in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Triumph Pacific, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, amassed drilling rights to approximately 44,000 largely unexplored gross acres in Northeastern British Columbia.
CIC Partners formed Triumph Pacific in June 2006 in partnership with Kyle Burnett, Triumph's CEO, and Ben Jones, Vice President of Exploration. Arcadia generated strong investment returns as an acquirer and operator of energy assets, primarily located in the Southwest.
In October, 2007, Triumph sold substantially all of its assets to Canada Energy Partners (TSX Venture: CE) for cash and stock and retained a back-in interest in the properties which Canada Energy continues to develop.
Founded in 1919 and headquartered outside of Detroit, Michigan, Continental Structural Plastics, Inc. ("CSP") is a leading solutions-oriented provider of highly engineered, compression-molded thermoplastic composite components to the HVAC, automotive, heavy truck, marine and general industrial markets. The Company serves its customers from manufacturing facilities in Petoskey, Michigan and Sarepta, Louisiana.
CIC Partners participated with Richard L. Scott Investments, LLC and the existing management team in the acquisition of CSP in February 2005
Headquartered in Lewisville, Texas, DynaGrid is a leading provider of substation and transmission line and drilling solutions to major utilities and municipalities. DynaGrid's rigorous safety program, experienced workforce, and modern well-maintained drill rigs enable safe and reliable project execution across a full suite of below-grade construction services.
GreenLeaf Auto Recycling is a leading supplier of recycled original-equipment automotive parts for all makes of domestic and foreign vehicles. GreenLeaf, formerly a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, operates 26 sites across 14 states.
CIC Partners, in concert with the firm's former owner and the new management team, led this leveraged buyout in 2003.
In September 2005, GreenLeaf was successfully sold in its entirety to a strategic acquirer, Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: SCHN), one of the nation's largest recyclers of ferrous metals and used auto parts retailers with more than 50 locations across the U.S. and in Canada.
Industrial Container Services (ICS) is the largest steel and plastic drum reconditioning and remanufacturing company in the United States. With over 10 facilities, ICS provides container solutions to local, regional and national customers.
CIC Partners partnered with two former owner/operators in February 2002 in a buyout from IFCO Systems N.V. Together CIC and management grew the business through acquisitions and organic growth before successfully selling the Company to Wingate Partners in September 2005.
Thayer is a leading structured-components supplier for the aerospace and defense industries, with sales of approximately $75 million. From three facilities located in Wichita, Kansas, and St. Louis, Missouri, the company provides integrated supply-chain solutions for commercial, military and general aviation platforms.
CIC Partners teamed with an industry-leading management team in a buyout and growth capital investment to create the aerospace industry's leading supply-chain company for structured parts.
In September 2006, CIC sold its interest in Thayer.
InnerChange is a nationally recognized residential treatment provider offering therapeutic services and accredited academics to young women with behavioral, emotional and substance abuse problems. The company is headquartered in Orem, Utah and operates treatment programs throughout Utah and Texas.
In February 2006, CIC Partners teamed with Val Christensen, a successful operator in the healthcare industry, to provide expansion capital and strategic support. Over a five year period, the company doubled its revenue and broadened its reach of services by expanding its existing programs and executing three acquisitions. InnerChange was sold to Cressey & Co., a private equity firm, in 2011.
OmniSYS is the market leader in processing medical benefit claims covered under Medicare Part B for retail, specialty, managed care, mail-order and home-delivery pharmacies. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, OmniSYS enables clients to effectively meet complex billing, revenue cycle management, medical necessity and utilization requirements for select classes of prescription and specialty drugs and medical supplies.
In September 2007, CIC Partners partnered with the company founder in a recapitalization of OmniSYS to support continued growth. In 2008, Tricia Fringer joined OmniSYS as President and Chief Executive Officer, bringing eighteen years of health care industry experience.
OmniSYS was successfully sold to Moelis Capital Partners, a private equity firm, in 2013.
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Fairfield, CT, SignStorey is a retail television network solution to be deployed at more than 2,000 supermarkets nationwide. Its retailer partners, including Albertsons, Pathmark and Price Chopper, see value in the company's unique approach to creating an enhanced shopping experience that provides a combination of useful information to the consumer and high-impact advertising messages.
CIC Partners and Enrico Investments LLC partnered with Golden Gate Capital in a growth capital investment in SignStorey in May 2005. CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) acquired SignStorey in September 2007 for $71.5 million.
Texas Capital Bank (NASDAQ: TCBI) is a leading Dallas-based regional bank with more than $2 billion in assets.
In 1997, CIC Partners provided start-up capital and joined a strong management team and board of directors to help finance and build a solid regional player in a consolidated market. In 2003, CIC sold its interest to a private buyer in a pre-IPO transaction.
CIC Partners and its affiliates, including President George W. Bush and Richard Rainwater, acquired the Texas Rangers in 1989. We secured the original investor group and raised the balance of the $33 million in equity investments, arranged more than $50 million in bank financing and coordinated the legal structuring and due diligence that closed the transaction.
The partnership produced stellar results for the fans and investors. Construction of a state-of-the-art baseball facility was achieved in 1994. The Rangers won their first Division Championship in 1996 and repeated the feat in 1998 and 1999. Attendance grew from 1.5 million fans in 1988 to 3 million in 1998. Revenues doubled between 1989 and 1993 and nearly doubled again between 1994 and 1998. As a result of this cumulative success, the team was sold to Thomas O. Hicks in 1999 for $250 million.