Incline Equity Partners (“Incline”), a Pittsburgh-based private equity firm, is pleased to announce that it has made an investment in The Mad Rose Group (“Mad Rose” or the “Company”), a leading importer and distributor of fine wines and specialty foods from France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain. This is Incline’s second time investing in the wine distribution sector, having owned The Country Vintner from 2008-2011. David Townsend, former CEO of The Country Vintner, will join the Company’s board of directors in conjunction with Incline’s investment.
Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, Mad Rose provides access to a diverse book of over 140 wine producers to off-premise retailers, on-premise retailers (“white tablecloth” restaurants) and third-party distributors across the United States. Founder and CEO Neal Rosenthal has been devoted to working with small, family-owned domains producing limited quantities of exceptional wines for over 40 years. Today, the portfolio encompasses almost every viticultural area of France and Italy’s most esteemed wine regions, as well as Switzerland’s Valais district and Catalonia.
“We are thrilled to embark on this new adventure with Incline,” said Neal Rosenthal. “The partnership will build upon our long-established culture and permit us to reach our full potential as stewards of exceptional estate-bottled wines from multi-generational family domains. Incline’s powerful resources provide the additional expertise to expand our reach and to play an even bigger role in the fine wine trade.”
“The combination of Incline’s experience and the exceptional business Neal has built creates a tremendous opportunity,” said David Townsend. “I had the pleasure of working with Incline as the CEO of The Country Vintner and assisted them in building a national importer and distributor that is still a dominant player in the market today. I look forward to leveraging my experience to advise Mad Rose on its growth plan and strategic direction.”
“This was an ideal situation for us,” said, Tom Ritchie, Partner at Incline. “Mad Rose is a founder-led, growing business that serves stable end markets in a sector where we have direct experience and an active operating partner. Additionally, Mad Rose has many identifiable ways to drive future growth that we look forward to executing upon. We are honored and excited to partner with Neal and his team.”
About Incline Equity Partners:
Incline Equity Partners, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a private equity firm investing in manufacturing, distribution and business services companies. Incline is generally seeking growing companies with enterprise values of $25 – $450 million. Incline’s typical investment types are ownership transitions for privately held businesses, buyouts and corporate divestitures within the U.S. and Canada.
Disclaimer:
Incline Management, L.P. (“IMLP”) is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser under the U.S. Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. IMLP provides investment advisory services only to privately offered funds. IMLP does not solicit or make its services available to the public or other advisory clients. This press release is intended solely to provide information regarding Incline’s potential capabilities for prospective portfolio companies, and is not an offer to sell to any person, or a solicitation from any person of an offer to buy, any securities. The statements contained herein are not statements of any IMLP client fund or investor and do not describe any experience with or endorsement of IMLP as an investment adviser by any such client or investor.
