William Blair Investment Bank Awarded Buyouts 2016 Deal of the Year

Buyouts magazine named Arbor Investment’s sale of portfolio company Gold Standard Baking to Parallel49 Equity (formerly Tricor Pacific Capital Inc.) as the “2016 Deal of the Year.” William Blair acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Arbor Investments.

Brent Smith and Jim Bertram of William Blair’s consumer investment banking team led a highly competitive bid process that drew several private equity and strategic firms. “It was a very robust auction process,” said Smith. “Several international strategic buyers went deep into the process.” Arbor chose to sell to Tricor Pacific Capital Inc, despite having a higher bid from an international strategic.  Joseph Campolo, co-founder and president of Arbor said, “We felt Tricor Pacific was the best buyer for the business.”

Gold Standard Baking is a leading full-service bakery specializing in a variety of laminated dough products. Under Arbor’s ownership, Gold Standard’s revenue nearly quadrupled while the number of employees expanded to more than 400 people.