Intrepid announced today that it acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Raw Sugar, LLC (Raw Sugar) on its investment from funds managed by private equity firm WM Partners LP in partnership with Raw Sugar founders and life partners Ronnie Shugar and Donda Mullis.
Based in Sarasota, Fla., and founded in 2014, Raw Sugar is an aspirational lifestyle brand that seeks to make clean beauty and healthy living products affordable, supporting the company’s belief that people are only as beautiful as they feel. Raw Sugar produces premium-quality and earth-friendly personal care products, which are formulated using plant-derived and Cold-Pressed© ingredients and recognized by their signature ‘Bamboo Tops & White Bottles’. With a core value of being ‘raw, real, good, and clean’, the company offers an increasing assortment of “better-for-you” personal care products, including soap, body wash, hair care, scrubs, lotions, lip care, a men’s and kids’ line, and most recently a deodorants line with biodegradable, recyclable packaging. Through the company’s give-back program, the Raw Sugar Initiative, the company has donated millions of bars of soap and clean essentials to those in need.
WM Partners is a middle-market private equity firm specializing in buyout investments in the health and wellness sector. Raw Sugar marks WM Partners’ first investment in its start to build its portfolio of brands in the natural personal care category.
“Intrepid was a true partner in our journey. They not only understood the market but appreciated and supported our mission and strategy in building the Raw Sugar brand, lifestyle, and mission,” said Donda Mullis, Raw Sugar’s Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer. Raw Sugar’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ronnie Shugar, added, “We are grateful for Intrepid’s expertise, advice, hard work, and friendship throughout this process. They delivered on everything they promised, and we could not have asked for a better partner.”
“We are proud to have been a part of the Raw Sugar team. Ronnie and Donda are incredible people who built a one-of-a-kind brand in Raw Sugar. They possess a unique combination of passion, intelligence, vision, and discipline that enabled them to create an authentic lifestyle brand for the consumer while building deep partnerships with the retailer community,” said Steve Davis, Managing Director and Head of the Beauty & Personal Care practice at Intrepid. “Despite its incredible success to date, the Raw Sugar brand has so much future potential. We are excited to see what the Raw Sugar and WM teams can accomplish together in the coming years.”
Deal Team Contacts
Steve Davis, Managing Director
Michael Garcia, Managing Director
Media Contact
Andreea Popa, Director, Marketing & Communications
About Intrepid’s Beauty & Personal Care Practice
Intrepid provides dedicated merger and acquisition advisory and capital raising services to the Beauty & Personal Care industry. By focusing exclusively on beauty care companies, our industry bankers have a deep understanding of trends and value drivers across the sector and maintain an ongoing dialogue with the acquirer and investor universe. Our Beauty & Personal Care practice has a proven track record of helping clients sell to global strategic acquirers and value-added private equity groups across the beauty and personal care landscape.
Investment banking services offered by Intrepid Investment Bankers LLC, a subsidiary of MUFG Union Bank. Member FINRA/SIPC.