Tribeca Oven

Summary

M&A Sell-Side Advisor

Carlstadt, NJ

Tribeca Oven, based in New Jersey, specializes in producing premium artisan breads and rolls. Its core business involves flash-freezing bread after 85% baking completion, allowing restaurants and supermarkets to quickly heat and serve fresh bread.

The founder of Tribeca Oven sought to exit the business, while his two younger partners aimed to partially cash out and retain upside potential. Carl Marks Securities (CMS) negotiated a 50% increase in an unsolicited offer from a large strategic buyer but advised waiting until a new production line was operational. Once the line was running, CMS ran a targeted sale process, ultimately selling Tribeca Oven to C.H. Guenther & Son, Inc. at a double-digit multiple. The transaction featured an innovative “Strategic LBO” structure, enabling management to retain equity, benefit from intercompany leverage, and earn rewards through put/call options tied to performance.

Key Challenges

Family Business

Sale

Future Equity Participation

Engagement Highlights

The owners had invested in new capital equipment to support growth and to improve profitability when a large, publically traded strategic buyer had presented an unsolicited offer. Carl Marks prepared a detailed response on behalf of Tribeca Oven and increased the initial offer by over 50%.
Ultimately, the owners decided to wait until the new production line was up and running to re-approach the market.
Carl Marks ran a targeted process after the new production line was running, and sold Tribeca Oven to C.H. Guenther & Son, Inc. for a double digit multiple.
We created a new and innovative concept called “The Strategic LBO”, which incorporated three deal points rarely seen in a sale to a strategic buyer:
- Allowing management to own equity directly in Tribeca post-closing aligned management’s interests with the buyer;
- Intercompany leverage gave management a greater percentage of equity for each dollar rolled; and
- Put/call options at increasing valuations rewarded superior performance and compensated management for the cap on the percentage of equity they could own with the strategic buyer.

Transaction completed by Carl Marks Securities LLC

Tribeca Oven

Summary

M&A Sell-Side Advisor

Key Challenges

Engagement Highlights

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