Rotunda Capital Partners Invests in Mama Lycha Foods

Partnership positions leading provider of branded Latin American foods for accelerated growth

BETHESDA, Md. & EVANSTON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rotunda Capital Partners (“Rotunda”) has invested in Mama Lycha Foods (“Mama Lycha” or “the Company”), in partnership with the Padilla family.

Mama Lycha was founded with the goal of bringing the authentic flavors of Latin American cuisine to the U.S. Today, the Company manufactures and distributes over 600 SKUs serving 750+ retail grocery customers and 150+ regional partner distributors across 37 U.S. states and 4 Canadian provinces. Headquartered in Houston, with additional facilities in Grand Prairie, Texas and Central America, Mama Lycha has earned a strong reputation for its exceptional portfolio of brands, reliable service, national distribution, deep strategic business relationships, and category expertise.

Dan Lipson, Managing Partner at Rotunda, said, "Mama Lycha represents a unique opportunity to invest in an exceptional business and team that has differentiated itself as a leading authority on Latin American cuisine. Mama Lycha's history of service and dedication to its partners' and customers' success, coupled with its strong and consistent track record of growth, make it an ideal platform investment for Rotunda. We are looking forward to partnering with the Company to accelerate the execution of strategic growth investments."

Founders, Luis and Maria Padilla, commented, "Our family has been proud to serve our customers, brand partners, and local communities for more than 30 years. After an exhaustive search, it was clear that Rotunda was the right partner as we begin this next phase of accelerated growth. Rotunda truly understands our capital needs, our culture, and our commitment to supporting our team, brands and customers. We look forward to our partnership, which will position Mama Lycha as the main platform company for continued rapid growth across products, brands, and retailers." The Padilla family, including the current General Director, Maria Padilla-Gonzalez, will continue to work in the business and help lead the next generation of management.

Corey Whisner, Managing Partner of Rotunda, added, "This transaction further exemplifies Rotunda’s deep experience investing in founder and family-owned businesses and highlights our continued interest in attractive investments in the food and beverage distribution sectors that we believe could benefit from our ability to drive rapid growth and expansion."

As part of the transaction, Luis Marconi, a longtime executive partner of Rotunda, will become Executive Chairman of the board of the Company. Luis was most recently head of Grocery Products for Hormel Foods and President of Megamex Foods, a joint venture of Hormel Foods and Herdez Del Fuerte.

The Rotunda team includes Dan Lipson, Corey Whisner, Rohit Dhake, Brian Kim and Keith Cotter. Statesman Corporate Finance, LLC served as financial advisor to the Company, Greenberg Traurig, LLP served as legal advisor to Rotunda on this transaction, and Haynes and Boone, LLP served as legal advisor to Mama Lycha on this transaction.

About Mama Lycha Foods

Mama Lycha is a leading provider of branded Latin American foods and beverage products. Founded in 1993, Mama Lycha now owns numerous brands and partners with dozens of first-class companies on an exclusive basis to deliver their brands to the North American market. For more information on Mama Lycha, visit us online at www.mamalycha.com.

About Rotunda Capital Partners

Rotunda Capital Partners is an operationally oriented private equity firm focused on transforming family-founder owned companies into dynamic, data-driven platforms able to achieve and manage significant growth. Since its founding in 2009, Rotunda has partnered with management teams to build great businesses within three primary sectors: value-added distribution, asset-light logistics and industrial, business & residential services. Rotunda strives to achieve replicable results by implementing its Rotunda Performance System to create strategic alignment, develop lean processes and create robust, data-driven infrastructures. For more information, visit www.rotundacapital.com.