Paine Schwartz Partners, a global leader in sustainable food chain investing, today announced that Paine Schwartz Food Chain Fund VI has successfully acquired Promix LLC, a high-growth brand of high-quality protein mixes, nutritional supplements, vitamins, and better-for-you low sugar/high-protein bars. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 2014, Promix is headquartered in Gainesville, FL and produces and markets high-quality and clean ingredient (“No Artificial Anything”) nutritional products, including supplements, vitamins, meal replacements, and better-for-you snacks. All formulas are owned and developed in-house, with the supply chain controlled by Promix as well. The Company’s products are free of fillers, gums, hormones, glyphosate, GMO, gluten, soy, antibiotics, and hormones.
Promix is well positioned in the $53 billion vitamins, supplements, and functional nutrition market, particularly within the faster growing $3 billion online protein/gut health category. The Company’s highest growth products include its Debloat prebiotic and probiotic supplements, as well as its protein powders and bars, electrolytes, collagen, and creatine products. Currently, the Company’s products are sold through direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) channels, Amazon, and small wholesalers. Promix’s mission of providing the cleanest supplements that are science-backed has resonated with its consumers, who rank it as #1 across quality and trust-related purchase drivers.
This strategic acquisition of Promix aligns with Paine Schwartz’s Health and Wellness core investment theme by providing access to high-protein, convenient, easy-to-prepare, low sugar, and highly nutritious options for consumers that are more functional than traditional supplements and snack offerings, building upon Paine Schwartz’s successful track record of investing in the consumer and better-for-you food space, including its current investments in Suja Life and Urban Farmer.
The Company’s Founder and CEO, Albert Matheny, Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer, Devon Levesque, and Chief Operating Officer, Ryan Lockwood, will continue to lead the business with support from the Paine Schwartz team. Bob DeBorde, former CEO of Paine Schwartz portfolio company Suja Life, will join as Executive Chairman, bringing 40 years of industry experience. Leveraging its expertise in the health and wellness space and its robust advisor network, Paine Schwartz will work closely with Promix to drive value creation initiatives, including opportunities to accelerate growth through increased marketing spend and brand awareness, product innovation, gross margin optimization, and channel expansion.
“We are thrilled about this acquisition by Paine Schwartz, which marks the next phase in our effort to become the leading provider of clean, science-backed, and functional supplements,” said Albert Matheny, CEO and Founder of Promix. “As a leading investor in high quality brands, Paine Schwartz brings significant expertise and resources – particularly in the consumer and wellness space – that will help us grow our business, including launching new innovative products, improving our operational capabilities, and expanding into new markets and channels. We look forward to working closely with them to build on our strong foundation and capture exciting new growth opportunities.”
Kevin Schwartz, CEO of Paine Schwartz, said, “This strategic acquisition of Promix is directly aligned with our long-term thesis of identifying companies that provide access to healthier, more nutritious, and safer food. I have been a long-term customer of Promix, using the Company’s products daily, and have been impressed with the Company’s founders since we met several years ago. We appreciate Promix’s strong brand loyalty and its track record of growth acceleration, which we believe can lead to growth within existing categories and into adjacent consumers and products lines. We look forward to working closely with the Promix team to continue innovating new products that tackle a variety of health and wellness needs and capturing market share in the rapidly growing supplements and functional nutrition space.”
Giannuzzi Lewendon served as advisor to Promix and Morrison Foerster served as legal advisor to Paine Schwartz Partners on this transaction.
About Promix
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Gainesville, FL, Promix produces and markets high-quality and clean ingredient (“No Artificial Anything”) nutritional supplements, vitamins, meal replacements, and better-for-you snacks. The Company’s products are free of fillers, gums, hormones, glyphosate, GMO, gluten, soy, antibiotics, and hormones. All formulas are owned and developed in-house, with a focus on ingredient quality, science-backed performance, and safety. For further information, please see https://promixnutrition.com/.
About Paine Schwartz Partners
Paine Schwartz Partners is the largest private equity firm dedicated to sustainable food chain investing, with ~$6 billion of AUM and over 20 years of experience. The firm invests across specific segments of the food and agribusiness value chain, with a focus on two core investment themes: productivity and sustainability and health and wellness. Through its proactive, thesis-driven approach, the firm targets value-added and differentiated companies and makes primarily control buyout investments, with a smaller allocation to growth companies. For further information, please see www.paineschwartz.com.
