Silver Oak recaps Legacy Farms

Private equity firm Silver Oak Services Partners has recapitalized Legacy Farms, a leading grower, shipper, and wholesaler of fruits and vegetables.

The Buena Park, California-based company specializes in dry vegetables including bell peppers, tomatoes and squash, also offering a wide selection of fresh fruits to grocers and foodservice providers in the Western US.

Wally Sinner, CEO of Legacy, which operates out of a roughly 100,000 sq ft distribution center, said in a statement that the partnership will allow the company to focus on “expanding our capacity, making additional investments in our business and executing add-on acquisitions.”

“We’re at an exciting point in Legacy Farms’ evolution, and we realized that a value-added partner with additional capital resources could help us execute on our growth strategy,” he said. “Silver Oak’s distribution experience and track record of executing growth strategies alongside their management partners made them logical partners for us.”

Silver Oak makes control investments in leading service businesses with $15 to $150 million in revenue. The firm was attracted to the produce sector given the “highly-perishable nature of the product, the recurring demand from customers, and the recession-resistant nature of the sector,” the statement went on.

“Legacy is well known in the industry for its customer service, product quality and reliability, and we’re excited to partner with such an experienced management team,” said Greg Barr, managing partner at Silver Oak. “We believe there are many organic and acquisition growth opportunities for the business, and we look forward to building upon Legacy’s impressive historical track record.”

Legacy is currently the only agri and food-related company in its portfolio, though in December the firm sold Accent Food Services, a distributor of fresh food, snacks and break room refreshments, to Boston-based Audax Private Equity.