Olympus Partners, Centerplate management agree to $551M buyoutOlympus Partners, Centerplate management agree to $551M buyout

Paul Frumkin

Centerplate, Inc., a Stamford, Conn.-based company providing foodservice at more than 250 sports, entertainment and convention venues, has been acquired from majority owner Kohlberg and Co. in a buyout led by Centerplate’s management and private equity firm Olympus Partners.

The purchase was valued by Standard & Poor’s at an estimated $551 million, including a proposed $342 million senior secured credit facility and $115 mezzanine debt.

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The buyout was led by Centerplate’s president and chief executive Des Hague together with Olympus Partners. Under terms of the deal the company’s senior management team will remain intact.

The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2012.

The company said the acquisition will bring “an infusion of resources which will accelerate Centerplate’s growth and innovation strategy.”

“This is a landmark day for Centerplate,” Hague said. “Our recapitalization and new ownership structure will create a powerhouse company with the leadership, resources and strategy to grow, innovate and dominate the event hospitality industry. We are entering this partnership with the knowledge that our business strategy is working, and we are, more than ever, perfectly positioned to serve our current clients and compete for new ones.”

Centerplate generates about $850 million in sales, according to Standard & Poor’s.

Olympus Partners is a Stamford, Conn.-based private equity firm that also owns Pizza Hut franchisee NPC International, and Pepper Dining, which is a franchisee of Chili’s. It had foodservice revenues of $340 million for the year ended December 2011, according to Nation’s Restaurant News’ Top 100 Census of chains and companies in the foodservice industry.

Contact Paul Frumkin at [email protected].
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