Navigation Capital Partners, an Atlanta-based middle market private equity firm, has completed the realignment and financial recapitalisation of its portfolio company Five Star Food Service, a vending, coffee service and food service provider.
Aurora Management Partners assisted Five Star management and NCP with the strategic realignment while NCP initiated and structured the financial recapitalisation.
Reed Smith and Kilpatrick Stockton served as legal counsel for NCP and Five Star, respectively.
The financial recapitalisation increases NCP’s majority ownership stake in Five Star and will enable the company to execute its future strategic operating and financial plan.
NCP appointed Alan Recher as chief executive officer of Five Star, and appointed NCP operating partner Craig Kirsch to the Five Star board of directors, where he joins NCP partners Larry Mock and Mark Downs. Cowen Capital Partners’ managing director Sengal Selassie continues to serve on the board, as well.
Founded in 1993, Five Star is one of the largest full-line vending and food services providers in the Southeast, with a staff of more than 600 servicing 168 routes, 80 cafeterias and numerous support functions operating from a network of nine branches and two culinary centres.
“We’re thrilled to have the active support of NCP and benefit greatly from their partnership and involvement,” says Recher. “The transactions strengthen our balance sheet and position us for attractive future growth.”
As part of the strategic realignment, Five Star became a franchisee of Canteen Vending Services, an operating company of Charlotte-based Compass Group North America. Canteen is the largest national vending company, and operates more than 18,500 client sites. Five Star will primarily operate in the Knoxville, Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee markets, while also serving other select customer/market areas in the Southeast.
“We are confident the realigned and recapitalized business, assisted by the opportunity to join the Canteen franchisee family, will bolster Five Star’s growth and profitability in the marketplace,” says Mark Downs, NCP partner and lead on the investment. “We look forward to continuing a close collaboration with Canteen and Five Star’s management team as we work together to expand the business.”
