Banyan Equity Partners

Banyan Equity Partners is a subsidiary of Middleton Partners, focused on private equity investing. Banyan invests in both Branded and non-Branded Manufacturing and Distribution businesses across various sectors, including, but not limited to, Consumer, Retail, Foodservice, Food, Hospitality, Fitness, and more.

Banyan Equity Partners focuses on leveraging our operational and industry experience in conjunction with a hands-on approach, leading to long-term and sustainable value creation.

Banyan’s Team has extensive experience across industries and asset classes, resulting in a strong universe of internal and external operating partners for each investment.

We unlock value through our unique team comprised of enterpreneurs, executives, and investment professionals.

  • Industry Expertise

  • Extensive Network

  • Operational Improvements

  • Dedicated Investor Base

Current Areas of Focus

  • New platforms in Consumer Products and Commercial Foodservice

  • Add-on acquisitions in Consumer Products (O2C Brands) or Commercial Fitness (TAG Fitness)

Investment Criteria

Size

New Platforms: Generally, we are size agnostic but typically focus on opportunities between $2,000,000-$20,000,000 of EBITDA.

Add-on Businesses: Typically looking for greater than $5mm of revenue

Sector

New Platforms: Broad interest across Manufacturing and Distribution businesses based in the USA

Add-on Businesses: Orphaned brands or businesses in the retail (outdoor, housewares, fitness, beach, cooling, seasonal, baby, pet) and commercial fitness space.

Investment Approach

We invest in industries where our experience and expertise unlock unique opportunities. We can leverage these opportunities through businesses at an inflection point where our industry experience and flexible capital lead to strong outcomes.

Let’s Work Together

Current Investments

Exited Investments

  • Middleton acquired and grew this nationally known manufacturer of custom table coverings and successfully exited via sale to a well-known foodservice industry strategic buyer

  • Middleton conceived of an launched this unique online foodservice equipment marketplace and successfully exited via sale to a national foodservice equipment distributor

  • Middleton capitalized this Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) and structured its merger with Pinstripes Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PNST), an innovative operator of a unique destination dining and entertainment concept growing quickly across the US.

  • Formed through the purchase of select businesses of the Storage Products Group division from Leggett $ Platt, Focus Products Group was a collection of brands and businesses in the housewares, food service, and hospitality industry. Through organic growth and 16 accretive acquisitions, Focus Products Group grew into a business with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue. Focus Products Group was sold in 2006 to a Chicago-based private equity group, Sterling Partners, realizing a significant return on invested capital.

    *Represents investments made by Team’s prior investing entities

Meet the Team

  • Keith Jaffee

    Keith Jaffee’s career has spanned over 3 decades with a focus on buying and building companies in consumer products and commercial foodservice equipment. He is a hands-on operator focused on process improvement, brand building, and acquisitions that offer value creation through synergy and consolidation. Keith currently sits on the Board of Tag Fitness and O2C Brands. Keith also serves as CEO at Banyan Acquisition Corp.

  • Jerry Hyman

    Jerry Hyman was the CEO of TriMark USA for 17 years, from 2003 to 2020, leading it to become the largest foodservice dealer in the US. During his time as CEO, annual revenue increased from $50 million to $2.1 billion. He successfully executed an industry roll-up strategy and transformed the business with both acquisition-driven and organic growth. He founded NexGen Procurement Corp., a unique industry buying group, whose members consisted of TriMark USA and several of the other largest, competing distributors in the foodservice equipment space. Under his leadership, NexGen grew to over $4 billion in purchasing volume and changed the dynamics in the industry.

  • Matt Jaffee

    Matt leads the day-to-day efforts across Middleton’s operating business and other opportunistic investments. Matt currently sits on the Board of Tag Fitness and O2C Brands. He also serves as an Advisor to Banyan Acquisition Corp. Previously, Matt served as Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at FSX, Board Member at Maurice Outdoors, and Strategic Advisor to The Bazaar. Prior to joining Middleton, Matt worked at GCM Grosvenor, an alternative asset management firm. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin – Red McCombs School of Business in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree of business, with a focus on corporate finance.

  • Nav Kalsi

    Nav is a partner with the Banyan Equity Private Equity team. In his role, he focuses on opportunities in the broader consumer products and food service sectors. Nav currently sits on the Board of Tag Fitness, and he also serves as an Advisor to O2C Brands and to Eastside Golf, a fast-growing consumer lifestyle apparel company. Before joining Banyan, Nav spent more than 20 years as a consumer products-focused investment banker at a number of leading global firms, including Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, and most recently led consumer products investment banking coverage at BMO Capital Markets and at Rothschild & Co, a leading global advisory firm. Nav holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Lafayette College. He lives in the suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two boys.

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