MIAMI, FL – (July 8, 2013) Trivest Partners (“Trivest”) announced the successful recapitalization of North Star Seafood, Inc. (“North Star” or the “Company”), a leading distributor of premium fresh and frozen seafood products. Rick Burman, North Star’s Founder and CEO, along with the Company’s current management team, will continue to lead daily operations. The North Star transaction represents the second platform company investment in Trivest Fund V, a $415 million fund dedicated to investing in Founder/Family-owned businesses and Trivest’s sixth overall investment in 2013.
Founded in 1992, North Star distributes fresh and frozen seafood and other ancillary products to leading restaurants, hotels, resorts, country clubs, cruise lines, hospitals, retirement homes and wholesalers throughout the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean markets. The Company sources products from all over the world through a diversified supplier base. North Star offers customers a wide variety of over 1,500 different products ranging from lobsters, fish, scallops, shrimp, mussels, oysters, squid, and other seafood and non-seafood products.
North Star’s Founder and CEO Rick Burman stated, “Trivest has been a perfect match for our organization. We are grateful for their straightforward and transparent approach to doing business. With an over 20-year history of organic growth, North Star’s management team is excited about partnering with Trivest in the Company’s next chapter of growth and expansion. We look forward to working with Trivest to continue to build our distribution platform as we look to expand geographically as well as into other distribution channels.”
Chip Vandenberg, Partner with Trivest, stated, “We are delighted that North Star identified Trivest as the best partner to help expand upon the Company’s strong historical track record. We continue to be impressed not only with management’s ability to drive growth, but also their focus on the long-term success of their customers, vendors and other partners. We look forward to participating in North Star’s growth, both organically and through add-on acquisitions in the coming years.”
Trivest Partners is a private investment firm that focuses on partnering with founder/family owned businesses in the United States and Canada. Since being founded in 1981, Trivest related entities have completed nearly 200 transactions, totaling over $5.0 billion in value. For additional information, please visit www.trivest.com.
