RoundTable buys Santa Cruz Nutritionals

RoundTable Healthcare Partners , an operating-oriented private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Santa Cruz Nutritionals from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners . SCN, founded in 1968, is a leading manufacturer of gummy vitamin, mineral, supplement and other nutraceutical products in the United States. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Lester Knight, a founding partner and co-chairman of RoundTable, will serve as chairman of the board of Santa Cruz. Mike Westhusing, CEO, and Randy Bridges, chief financial officer and chief operating officer, will continue to lead the Company’s management team and will serve as members of the Board.

“We are very excited to partner with Santa Cruz,” said Lester Knight. “The gummy dosage formulation is extremely unique, in high demand and has significant room for growth. Mike and Randy have capitalized on this opportunity by building SCN into a market-leading, high quality manufacturer of these products. We look forward to working with them and their team to expand upon their current product offering to take advantage of positive market growth trends.”

Mike Westhusing stated, “RoundTable is the perfect partner for our company. As we continue to capitalize upon growth opportunities utilizing the gummy dosage format, RoundTable’s operating expertise, particularly in the disciplines of quality, regulatory and manufacturing, will be a key asset for us to draw upon.”

Randy Bridges commented, “Through our product development capabilities and focused sales and marketing efforts, we have achieved significant revenue growth over the last five years. We look forward to continuing to build upon our market-leading position as a best-in-class manufacturer of gummy nutraceuticals.”

RoundTable’s investment strategy targets companies in the healthcare industry that fall within the expertise and experience of the firm’s operating and transaction principals. Santa Cruz Nutritionals is RoundTable’s fourth platform investment from its $600 million Fund III.

As part of the transaction and to finance further growth opportunities for the Company, RoundTable facilitated the successful completion of new senior credit facilities and a private placement of senior subordinated notes. The senior credit facilities were led by GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services. The senior subordinated notes were provided by RoundTable Capital Partners II (Capital Fund II) and a co-investor. Capital Fund II is RoundTable’s captive subordinated debt fund that makes fixed rate subordinated debt investments alongside the equity investments of RoundTable’s equity funds. Sidley Austin LLP acted as exclusive legal advisor to RoundTable in this transaction.