Gridiron Capital Announces Partnership with Jacent Strategic Merchandising
New Canaan, CT, April 25, 2019 – Gridiron Capital, LLC (“Gridiron Capital”) is pleased to announce an investment in Jacent Strategic Merchandising (“Jacent” or the “Company”), the leading supplier and service provider of impulse merchandising solutions to the grocery, mass, drug and e-commerce retail channels.
Headquartered in Huntington Valley, PA, Jacent was formed in 2016 by the merger of LaMi Products and ATA Retail Services, two pioneers in impulse merchandising with a combined 60+ years of experience. Jacent sources, warehouses, stocks and merchandises over 3,500 impulse items to more than 15,000 retail stores across the United States and Canada. The company creates a strategic merchandising plan for each store and places the right impulse product in the right location within the store to drive enhanced customer experiences, sales and profitability. With its national direct store delivery (“DSD”) network and team members, Jacent reorders, restocks and merchandises each store to provide a customized, turn-key solution that drives incremental impulse sales for its blue-chip customers. In addition to the core impulse business, Jacent offers other retail services and data insights to its customers to help maximize the retailer’s profitability from their partnership with Jacent.
Michael Dion, Co-Founder & CEO of Jacent stated, “We are extremely proud of the Company and our team that has empowered our retailers to win every day in each of their stores. Our partnership with Gridiron will bring new operational and financial expertise, networks and strategic focus to supercharge the success we drive for our customers and employees. We are thrilled to work alongside the Gridiron team, who share Jacent’s belief that people, culture and relationships underpin long-term achievement in business.”
Kevin Jackson, a Managing Partner at Gridiron Capital stated, “Jacent’s scale and one-stop merchandising solutions create a differentiated, high-value outsourced services platform with exciting growth opportunities. We believe that combining Co-Founders Michael and Larry Dion’s winning track-record and passion for the business with Gridiron’s capabilities and resources will create an even stronger platform.”
John Warner, a Managing Director at Gridiron Capital added, “We firmly believe in both Jacent’s unique customer value proposition and the world-class management team that collectively drive the business. We look forward to sharing our Gridiron Playbook and working together to achieve our shared vision for the Company.”
Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff advised Gridiron Capital on the transaction. Twin Brook Capital Partners led the debt financing along with MidCap Financial and Hamilton Lane.
About Jacent:
Headquartered in Huntington Valley, PA, Jacent was formed in 2016 by the merger of LaMi Products and ATA Retail Services, two pioneers in impulse merchandising with a combined 60+ years of experience. Jacent sources, warehouses, stocks and merchandises over 3,500 impulse items to more than 15,000 retail stores across the United States and Canada. The company creates a strategic merchandising plan for each store and places the right impulse product in the right location within the store to drive enhanced customer experiences, sales and profitability. With its national direct store delivery (“DSD”) network and team members, Jacent reorders, restocks and merchandises each store to provide a customized, turn-key solution that drives incremental impulse sales for its blue-chip customers. In addition to the core impulse business, Jacent offers other retail services and data insights to its customers to help maximize the retailer’s profitability from their partnership with Jacent. Additional information is available on the firm’s website: www.jacentretail.com
About Gridiron Capital:
Gridiron Capital is an investment firm focused on partnering with founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams, and creating value by building middle-market companies into industry-leaders in branded consumer, B2B and B2C services, and niche industrial segments in the United States and Canada. We help transform growing companies by winning together through hard work, partnerships grounded in shared values and a unique culture that comes from hands-on experience building and running businesses. As a team led by former operators and entrepreneurs, we know what it takes to run successful businesses on a day-to-day basis. Additional information is available on the firm’s website: www.gridironcapital.com
Press Contacts:
Kevin Jackson, Managing Partner, Gridiron Capital, LLC
kjackson@gridironcapital.com