Generational Capital Markets Announces Investment in Ellison Bakery By Blackford Capital

By Capital Markets

05/02/2017

Generational Capital Markets, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC, a leading mergers and acquisitions advisor for privately held businesses, is pleased to announce Blackford Capital, a national private equity firm headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., invested in Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Ellison Bakery, Inc., a leading manufacturer of cookie, snack bar, crunch and inclusion product, and other products for the industrial market, food service industry, and retail and private label space.

Generational Capital Markets represented Ellison Bakery. Brenen Hofstadter, President, and Julio Dominguez, Vice President, were the lead advisors on the transaction. Generational Capital Markets is the broker/dealer affiliate of Generational Equity, LLC, and primarily conducts merger and acquisition transactions between $10 million and $500 million of enterprise value. 

"It was important to the Ellison family to maintain the management, staff and culture of the business post-closing, and to align with a partner committed to growth," said Hofstadter. "The Blackford team fit that criteria and more."

Debt financing was provided by Comerica Bank. The transaction is the ninth by Blackford's Michigan Prosperity Fund, which invests primarily in Michigan companies, as well as neighboring states.

Ellison Bakery began in 1945 supplying baked goods to restaurants and grocery stores in the Ft. Wayne area. Ellison Bakery grew quickly and gained a reputation for quality and exceeding customer expectations.

As a result, Ellison became the exclusive manufacturer for Archway Cookies in Indiana, Kentucky and Wisconsin. Since that time, Ellison has grown rapidly and established itself as the independent bakery of choice for blue-chip customers.

Currently, Ellison differentiates itself through its extensive research and development capabilities and ability to accommodate short run products. Ellison has over 100 employees and operates out of a 115,000 sq. ft. facility.

"We're excited the Ellis family decided to entrust the future of Ellison Bakery with Blackford Capital. Ellison has established itself as a premier industrial bakery and is known for its high quality and extreme flexibility in supporting a wide range of customers," said Martin Stein, founder and managing director of Blackford Capital.

The transaction also marks the retirement of Rob Ellis, who stepped down as CEO 6 years ago and had remained with Ellison as the CFO. Rob's sons, Jon and Jeremy Ellis, have grown the business tremendously over the past four years will continue to be active in the business post-transaction.

"The Ellis brothers had been looking for a financial partner that would help continue the legacy they had built with their father," Stein continued.

"We're honored to play a part in Ellison's next chapter and we look forward to investing in the business, the employees, and the community as we continue the story of growth at Ellison."

"We're excited to benefit from the strategic experience and capital that Blackford brings and look forward to working with the entire team to execute our aggressive plans for growth," said Todd Wallin, President of Ellison Bakery.

"We've experienced steady growth the last several years under the ownership of the Ellis Family. The Ellis family selected Blackford Capital as partner because of its shared values, aggressive growth strategy, and commitment to developing the existing team at Ellison."

About Generational Capital Markets

Generational Capital, LLC is a Dallas, Texas-based merger & acquisition advisory firm. Generational Capital wholly owns Generational Capital Markets, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. More information can be found at www.gencm.com.

Generational Capital and Generational Capital Markets are part of the Generational Group and are affiliated with Generational Equity, LLC. Generational Equity's website is www.genequityco.com and its online newsroom is www.gecpress.com.

GCM received The M&A Advisor's 2016 Corporate and Strategic Acquisition of the Year Award, as well as the 2016 Materials Deal of the Year for its work on the Stern Rubber Company transaction. It has also been recognized for the 2016 M&A Deal of the Year (for deals valued $10mm – $25mm) for the acquisition of Pro Trans Logistics Inc. by Action Resources.