Exclusive: Swander Pace closes Fund V with $350 million, inks flurry of deals

Specializing in U.S. and Canadian targets that sell directly or provide services and materials to the worldwide consumer sector, Swander Pace exceeded the $342 million in vintage 2008 SPC Partners IV and the $331 million from Fund III. Since 1997, the firm has raised about $1.3 billion in commitments. Lazard Ltd acted as placement agent for the latest fund.

“We had a high re-up rate from our limited partners and we added a few more,” Andrew Richards, managing director and co-founder, told Buyouts.

Among the firm’s recent deals, Swander Pace sold Pineridge Bakery, the leading Canadian niche bakery and owner of Oakrun Farm Bakery, Gourmet Baker, and Benevito Foods, to Swiss-based Aryzta AG, a strategic buyer, for $340 million. A source familiar with the deal said Swander Pace earned more than 6.5x on its investment in the firm. Richards declined to comment.

Also on the exit front, Swander Pace inked a deal to sell its over-the-counter products portfolio company, Insight Pharmaceuticals, to Prestige Brands, for $750 million. The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan was a co-investor on the deal.

On the acquisition front, Swander Pace purchased Recochem for an undisclosed sum. The deal for the manufacturer of fluids for automotive and household products came in toward the higher end of Swander Pace’s target size, which is roughly $25 million to $400 million in sales, with a sweet spot of $75 million to $150 million in sales.

Swander Pace also wrapped up a smaller deal for Aden + Anais, an entrepreneur-owned company that makes baby products for swaddling and other needs.

Overall, Swander Pace continues to sift for family-owned businesses with an eye on profitable exits down the road. “We’d been working on these deals for a while and they all came together at about the same time,” Richards said. ”We sell a lot to strategics, partly because they’re dying for growth.”

(This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Aden + Anais and to change to lower case the “c” in Recochem and the “r” in Pineridge; also the deal for Insight Pharmaceuticals has not closed.)