LOS ANGELES—Intrepid Investment Bankers (Intrepid), a leading middle-market investment bank, announced today that it acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Classic Brands, a portfolio company of FrontRange Capital Partners (FrontRange) and Brass Ring Capital (Brass Ring), on its sale to Merit Capital Partners and Aiglon Capital Management. Based in Denver, Colo., Classic Brands is an industry leading designer, manufacturer, and wholesaler of bird feeders and related products and sells its products primarily through major retailers and lawn and garden stores nationwide and online. Founded in 2010 by industry veteran Bob Donegan, Classic Brands has already become the second largest company in the industry and expects to become the dominant supplier through a multi-channel strategy to educate consumers and grow the increasingly popular pastime of feeding wild birds.
“I am very excited about the next chapter for Classic Brands and our new partnership with the team at Merit Capital and Aiglon Capital,” said Bob Donegan, Classic Brands Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Intrepid did a terrific job preparing and guiding the management team through the process. They really understood the management team’s perspective and were responsive to our needs.”
Classic Brands is well known for its customer research driven design process, innovative product portfolio, and unique packaging across its four distinct brands: More Birds®, Stokes Select®, Squirrel-X™, and Droll Yankees®.
“We are delighted to have backed Bob Donegan and his management team as they built Classic Brands into a market leader,” said David Robertson, Chief Executive Officer of FrontRange Capital. “Ed Bagdasarian and his team at Intrepid performed a masterful job of carefully marketing and articulating the Classic Brands’ story to a broad base of buyers to find a great home for the company, and a great outcome for our investors.”
“It has been a pleasure to partner with Bob Donegan and his team to build Classic Brands over the past several years,” said David Raffel, Partner at Brass Ring. “Intrepid’s team did a great job running the process and finding the right buyer for Classic Brands. Their creativity and thoughtfulness throughout the process contributed meaningfully to this exceptional result for everyone.”
“Classic Brands has grown significantly over the past five years both organically through its commitment to traditional retail and online channels, and through its successful completion and integration of multiple acquisitions,” said Ed Bagdasarian, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Intrepid. “Congratulations to the management team at Classic Brands for creating a truly differentiated market leader.”
Deal Team Contacts
Ed Bagdasarian, Managing Director
Media Contact
Stephanie Raven, Marketing Specialist
About Intrepid Investment Bankers
Intrepid provides M&A, capital raising and strategic advisory services to entrepreneurs and middle-market companies in various industry sectors. Our heritage breeds a culture that embraces teamwork, tenacity and creativity to win big for our clients. We believe that every company has an entrepreneurial passion that drives it and a story that defines it. Our team delivers results through skillful positioning and relentless execution. Based in Los Angeles, Intrepid augments its international capabilities through its active participation in Oaklins, an exclusive global alliance of M&A advisory firms.