Intrepid Investment Bankers announced today that it acted as the buy-side advisor to Vivify Specialty Ingredients (“Vivify”), a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors (“Gryphon”), on its acquisition of Access Ingredients (“Access”). Founded in 1978, with headquarters in Glendale Heights, IL, Vivify is a leading provider of specialty colorants, additives, and ingredients for the food & beverage, personal care & cosmetics, and industrial end markets. Founded in 2012 and based in Arcadia, CA, Access (www.accessingredients.com) is a distributor of specialty ingredients for the personal care industry. Access specializes in cleansing, foaming, thickening, moisturizing, and anti-aging products used in hair care, body wash, shaving cream, sunscreen, lotion, acne treatment, and antiperspirant products. Intrepid was retained by Vivify to identify strategic acquisition candidates focused on expanding their value-added solutions and portfolio of high-quality ingredients in the personal care & cosmetics, food & beverage, and industrial segments.
“The addition of Access to the ever-growing portfolio of Vivify brands strengthens our position in the hair and skincare markets and will help to accelerate our growth,” said Brian Leen, CEO of Vivify. “We are thrilled to have identified Access and advised the Gryphon and Vivify teams on completing such a highly-complementary addition to their platform. These acquisitions further solidify Vivify’s position as a leading global provider of specialty ingredients for a variety of end markets,” said Joseph Husband, Director of Business Development at Intrepid. “
Gryphon Investors (www.gryphoninvestors.com) is a leading middle-market private equity firm focused on profitably growing and competitively advantaged companies in the Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrial Growth, and Software sectors. With approximately $9 billion of assets under management, Gryphon prioritizes investments in which it can form strong partnerships with founders, owners, and executives to accelerate the building of leading companies and generate enduring value through its integrated deal and operations business model. Gryphon’s highly-differentiated model integrates its well-proven Operations Resources Group, which is led by full-time, Gryphon senior operating executives with general management, human capital acquisition and development, treasury, finance, and accounting expertises. Gryphon’s three core investment strategies include its Flagship, Heritage, and Junior Capital strategies, each with dedicated funds of capital. The Flagship and Heritage strategies target equity investments of $50 million to $350 million per portfolio company. The Junior Capital strategy targets investments in junior securities of credit facilities, arranged by leading middle-market lenders, in both Gryphon-controlled companies, as well as in other private equity-backed companies operating in Gryphon’s targeted investment sectors.