Fort Point Capital, a Boston-based private equity firm, invested in The Yandell Family of Companies, a transportation, warehousing, logistics and value-added service provider serving the wine, food and beverage industries since 1945. Live Oak Bank and NorthCoast Mezzanine provided debt financing for the transaction.
Based in Benicia, CA, Yandell consists of SC Warehouses, a temperature-controlled warehouse solution; Yandell Truckaway, a provider of transportation and trucking services throughout Northern and Central California; and Yes! Logistics, a freight brokerage.
“Yandell is a well-established player in the wine logistics space and has built a strong reputation as a critical supply chain partner to the winery ecosystem,” Christina Pai, a partner at Fort Point Capital, said. “We are excited to partner with the Yandell team and support their vision for growth and expansion.”
“We have been impressed with Yandell’s long history and track record of delivering high touch service to many of the leading wineries in the U.S. today,” Michael Brofft, vice president at Fort Point Capital, said. “Yandell has built a compelling service offering that eliminates operational complexity for its customers, allowing them to focus on their core operations of producing wine, food or other beverages.”
“After operating independently for the last 78 years, our family is excited to be partnering with Fort Point Capital,” John Yandell Jr., president of Yandell, said. “Their extensive experience investing in the logistics space combined with their partnership approach will provide us with the resources we need to enhance our service offering, invest in sales and marketing, and expand geographically.”
Yandell is Fort Point Capital’s 16th platform investment and eighth investment from FPC Small Cap Fund II. Over the past 12 months, Fort Point Capital has closed 10 transactions, including the exit of one of its portfolio companies, four new platform investments and five add-on acquisitions in support of its portfolio.
Kirkland & Ellis, McCarter & English and RSM advised Fort Point Capital on this transaction, while Janney Montgomery Scott advised Yandell.
