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Florachem to accelerate growth plan under new ownership of SK Capital Partners

2022 is a transformational year at Florachem as the company celebrates the completion of a new natural citrus ingredients facility while also welcoming SK Capital Partners.

“The new partnership will further increase Florachem’s investments in new technologies and capabilities, expanding the company’s portfolio of new and innovative natural ingredients and product solutions for it’s clients.” – Jon Leonard, President and CEO

For the full press release see below

Jacksonville, Florida, May 2, 2022 — Funds advised by SK Capital Partners, LP (“SK Capital”), a private investment firm focused on the specialty materials, specialty chemicals, and pharmaceuticals sectors, today announced the acquisition of Florachem Holdings, LLC (“Florachem” or the “Company”) from an affiliate of Carmelina Capital, LLC.

Florachem is a leading manufacturer and supplier of natural plant-based ingredients including citrus, pine, and specialty rosin resins. The Company’s high quality natural products help their global customer base improve product performance with sustainable, clean-label ingredients. Florachem partners with industry- leading customers across diverse end markets including flavor and fragrance, personal care, industrial, and coatings and adhesives.

Florachem, led by President and CEO, Jon Leonard, is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, where it has world-class citrus and pine manufacturing and research and development capabilities. Additionally, the Company is in the process of completing the construction of a new state-of-the-art, food-grade manufacturing facility that will expand Florachem’s capacity, add new capabilities, and support the Company’s strategic expansion of its natural citrus ingredient product line.

“Jon Leonard and his team have built a tremendously successful platform with an industry-wide reputation for customer service, reliability, and quality,” said Mario Toukan, Managing Director of SK Capital. “We look forward to partnering with the Florachem team to continue to service its customer and supplier bases, expand the platform’s reach and capabilities, and accelerate growth.”

“We are extremely excited to partner with SK Capital, which shares our vision and strong set of values while bringing significant resources and relationships to the table,” said Jon Leonard. “SK Capital is committed to helping Florachem grow its business and capabilities, while protecting and enhancing our high-quality reputation in the industry.”

Jonathan Borell, a Managing Director of SK Capital added, “SK Capital has significant experience investing in ingredients businesses, and we believe we have found a great opportunity to partner with Jon Leonard and his team to build a leading natural ingredients platform. With nearly 30 years of experience, Jon is a respected leader in his industry. We feel privileged to play a part in this ongoing story and to work closely with Florachem’s employees to bring further opportunities for growth and success to fruition.”

Goodwin Procter LLP acted as legal counsel to SK Capital and committed debt financing was provided by Stellus Capital Management.

About SK Capital

SK Capital is a private investment firm with a disciplined focus on the specialty materials, specialty chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors. The firm seeks to build strong and growing businesses that create substantial long-term economic value. SK Capital aims to utilize its industry, operating, and investment experience to identify opportunities to transform businesses into higher performing organizations with improved strategic positioning, growth, and profitability, as well as lower operating risk. SK Capital’s portfolio of businesses generates revenues of approximately $15 billion annually, employs more than 20,000 people globally and operates 191 plants in 32 countries. The firm currently has approximately $6.6 billion of assets under management. For more information, please visit www.skcapitalpartners.com.

About Florachem Holdings, LLC

Founded in 1988, Jacksonville, Florida-based Florachem is a leading manufacturer and supplier of natural plant-based ingredients, including citrus, pine, and specialty rosin resins. The Company serves a global customer base across the flavor and fragrance, personal care, industrial, and coatings and adhesives markets. Florachem currently operates two facilities in North America. For more information, please visit www.florachem.com.

About Carmelina Capital Partners

Carmelina Capital Partners is a Los Angeles-based private investment firm that partners with exceptional founder-led and family-owned businesses. Carmelina has extensive experience partnering with owner-operators across a broad range of industries to facilitate shareholder liquidity, support rapid growth, and drive accelerated value creation. For more information, please visit www.carmelina.com.

Florachem Announces New Location In Lakeland, FL

Florachem is proud to announce the purchase and development of its second manufacturing location supporting the company’s strategic expansion of its natural citrus ingredient product line.

Florachem is growing! We are expanding our team and capabilities with the addition of a second site located in Lakeland, FL while continuing to invest in our Jacksonville, FL headquarters. The new 10-acre campus in Lakeland will be built from the ground up in several phases.  The new facility will ultimately add more than 80,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing capacity to Florachem’s existing footprint. The new facility is designed with the latest technology for the production of natural citrus flavor and fragrance ingredients. Additionally, it will significantly expand Florachem’s storage capacity by over 5,000 Tons.

“We are very focused on meeting our clients’ needs for exceptional natural, clean label ingredients and service.  In order to meet those needs we are undergoing a major growth transformation as a company.” – Doug Burlen, Vice President – Commercial

“The new site gives us a blank canvas to build a completely new, modern, state of the art manufacturing facility with the latest separation technologies.” – Brandy Geiger, Director – Citrus Ingredients

Jon Leonard, Florachem President and CEO, commented, “We commissioned our Jacksonville headquarters as a brand-new facility in 2018 and we’ve been building a world-class team with many years of combined expertise in citrus and natural specialty ingredients. Now the addition of the Lakeland site builds on our capability as a leading independent citrus ingredients provider. Our expanded portfolio will include a broad range of high-quality citrus ingredients desired by our Flavor and Fragrance clients.”

The new Florachem campus is strategically located in Florida’s citrus belt with nearby access to major transportation lanes. Phase 1 of the project is expected to be complete with manufacturing to begin in Q4 of 2021.  Along with the new site and capabilities, Florachem looks forward to adding approximately 20 new team members over several phases. “We care a lot about having a culture where our team enjoys coming to work and is proud of the products and the service we provide to our clients,” says Jon Leonard, CEO. “This is an opportunity to expand our team and build on that culture of providing world-class service to our customers.”

Welcome to the team!

Florachem announces the appointment of Doug Burlen to the new role of Vice President – Commercial, where he will be leading all sales and procurement functions for the company.

Doug brings more than 25 years experience in commercial and strategic roles with particularly deep experience in the citrus flavor & fragrance industry.  Prior to joining Florachem he was most recently with Firmenich where he held positions as Global Director – Citrus Procurement as well as Purchasing Director – Mergers & Acquisitions & Citrus Strategy.  He also previously worked with Cargill where he was responsible for leading Cargill Flavors North America juice business.

“My entire career I have always been most motivated by building close relationships and identifying ways to create value for clients and suppliers.  I’m super excited to have this opportunity to join the Florachem team and build on the company’s great legacy as a leader for more than 30 years in the manufacture and supply of natural & renewable citrus, pine and other plant–based ingredients.” – Doug Burlen, Vice President – Commercial

Florachem’s CEO, Jon Leonard commented: “The creation of this role and Doug’s addition is key to our future as we are executing on the next strategic growth cycle of our business.  In partnership with Carmelina Capital Partners we will be significantly expanding our manufacturing capabilities and product portfolio to meet the growing demand for natural, clean label, sustainable ingredients.”

Welcome to the team!

Florachem is pleased to announce the addition of Brandy Geiger to its senior management team as Director – Citrus Ingredients. Brandy has spent over 20 years in the creation and utilization of global flavor and fragrance ingredients with a specialty in citrus. She adds a well-rounded technical expertise to the expanding Florachem platform. Always willing to share her love of citrus, she has presented educational seminars both domestically and internationally.

“Presenting in China reinforced for me how universal citrus is for flavors and fragrances. I’m excited to be joining an innovative team focused on providing natural and sustainable ingredients for today’s evolving customer.” – Brandy Geiger, Director – Citrus Ingredients

“Having worked together before I knew she would be the right person to help guide our continued success and commercial growth.” – Jon Leonard, CEO

Brandy is a member of the WFFC and a University of Florida graduate in Chemistry. She has a strong technical background in product development, quality control and regulatory with previous experience at Kerry, Givaudan, Florida Chemical and Treatt.