Has anyone acquired / invested in a CPG company?

searcher profile

February 26, 2024

by a searcher from Harvard University - Harvard Business School in Boston, MA, USA

Hi All,

I have been evaluating which industries to focus on for the search (ideally $2-5M EBITDA in size), and while there are quite a few industries that are traditionally more favored by both searchers and investors, I keep thinking about whether to keep CPG in the search results. On the one hand, I have ~8 years of work experience in the industry, in the snacks / food space. However, on the other hand, it is rare to come across this industry being mentioned in the ETA space at all, both from the searcher and investor perspective.

Therefore, I just wanted to reach out to you all and inquire if anyone here has acquired a CPG business or has invested in an acquisition in this space? If so, I would really appreciate a chance to chat with you to understand the space from the ETA perspective a bit better. If you know of any investors in this space as well, please let me know as well, I'd really appreciate it!

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commentor profile
Reply by a professional
in Durban, South Africa
Some objective perspective here: You might not be hearing about CPG businesses because they're typically being presented as either 'manufacturing', 'eComm' or 'Amazon FBA' businesses.

As a former advertising executive whose clients included the likes of P&G, Unilever, Loreal and Mars, the thought of entering this space terrifies me. The competition is fierce and largely centralized, the margins can be astoundingly thin, and the revenue pretty much rises and falls on advertising and media..
commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from Duke University in Alpharetta, GA, USA
I nearly pulled the trigger on a deal here. I was managing a $50 MM CPG brand when the factory burned down and we had to reboot the entire thing using outsourced manufacturing and minimal capital. During this mess, I started working on developing an offer for part of the business ($2 MM sub-brand) that was likely to be shut down as part of the consolidation....
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