Moves Forward with Enhanced Financial Flexibility, Well Positioned
for Long-Term Success
MERIDIAN, Idaho–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CTI Foods (“CTI” or the “Company”), a leading custom foodservice
manufacturer supplying top U.S. restaurant chains and branded food
companies, today announced that it has successfully completed its
financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11. Through the
expedited eight-week process, CTI has reduced its debt by more than $400
million and is moving forward with approximately $110 million of
committed exit financing from a new ABL facility, providing significant
financial flexibility to support continued investments on behalf of its
customers.
“Today marks the beginning of the next chapter for CTI Foods as an even
stronger company,” said Mike Buccheri, President and Chief Executive
Officer of CTI. “Through this process and with the support of our new
sponsors, we have improved our capital structure and significantly
reduced our debt. CTI Foods is now well positioned to build on our core
business through increased investments in innovation, product
development, and food safety. As always, we will continue to focus on
CTI’s core mission of delivering exceptional custom foods and culinary
solutions to drive our customers’ growth goals.”
Mr. Buccheri continued, “I also want to especially thank our customers,
vendors, and business partners for their support throughout this
process. Our success is a testament to their belief in us, our ongoing
collaboration and partnership, and the hard work of all our CTI
employees. I am excited for CTI Foods’ future and honored to lead this
team in the execution of our strategy for long-term growth and value
creation for our vendor and customer partners.”
An investor group led by Black Diamond Capital Management, LLC, Barings,
LLC, and the asset management and investment advisory business of
Guggenheim Partners has acquired a majority interest in CTI. The
investor group is excited to partner with CTI to further strengthen its
position as a leading provider of custom food products.
Barclays served as the sole arranger and sole bookrunner of the
Company’s exit ABL facility.
About CTI Foods
CTI Foods is a culinary-driven company that offers a diverse range of
custom food solutions to the foodservice and restaurant industries,
including raw and pre-cooked protein, dry sausage, soups and sauces, and
dehydrated beans. CTI Foods has seven state-of-the-art food processing
facilities and has over 1,700 employees at its California, Idaho, Iowa,
Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Texas locations.
About Black Diamond
Founded in 1995, Black Diamond is a leading alternative asset management
firm with over $8 billion in assets under management across three
complementary investment platforms: Control Distressed/Private Equity
Funds, a Hedge Fund and CLOs and other structured vehicles.
About Barings
Barings is a $317+ billion* global financial services firm dedicated to
meeting the evolving investment and capital needs of our clients and
customers. Through active asset management and direct origination, we
provide innovative solutions and access to differentiated opportunities
across public and private capital markets. A subsidiary of MassMutual,
Barings maintains a strong global presence with business and investment
professionals located across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
*As of March 31, 2019
About Guggenheim Partners
Guggenheim Partners is a global investment and advisory firm with more
than $265 billion* in assets under management. Across our three primary
businesses of investment management, investment banking, and insurance
services, we have a track record of delivering results through
innovative solutions. With over 2,400 professionals based in offices
around the world, our commitment is to advance the strategic interests
of our clients and to deliver long-term results with excellence and
integrity. We invite you to learn more about our expertise and values by
visiting GuggenheimPartners.com and following us on Twitter at
twitter.com/guggenheimptnrs.
*Assets under management are as of March 31, 2019 and include consulting
services for clients whose assets are valued at approximately $60
billion.
Contacts
Media Contact:
Meaghan Repko / Dan Moore
Joele Frank
Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
(212) 355-4449
