Contract manufacturer consolidation: INW acquires Capstone Nutrition
Founded in 1989, Capstone is described as a full-service developer and manufacturer for established and emerging wellness brands across a range of health conditions. The company focuses on capsules, tablets and powder products, and its 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is one of the largest in the nutrition industry.
As reported earlier this year by NutraIngredients-USA, INW itself was acquired by investment firm Cornell Capital LLC. INW has contract manufacturing facilities in four states.
Under the prior ownership of Rosewood Private Investments, INW had acquired contract manufacturers ProTec Laboratory and Healthy Natural Inc. The company now advertises manufacturing capabilities in multiple delivery forms including powders, liquids, capsules, tablets, food bars, and topical products.
Coinciding with the Cornell acquisition announcement, INW said it had acquired Bee Health, a leading developer and manufacturer of nutritional supplements in the UK.
The new consolidated contract manufacturer will be led by Jared Leishman, Capstone's current Chief Executive Officer.
“We are excited to join the INW family and accelerate growth by leveraging our innovative capabilities, operational flexibility and blue-chip customer relationships as part of this expanding global platform,” said Leishman.
“Combining our two complementary businesses will continue to strengthen INW as a world-class turnkey service provider of differentiated products across the vitamins, minerals and supplements categories. I am confident that together we can enhance our position as a leading provider of innovative, customer-focused solutions for the modern health and wellness industry.”
Justine Cheng, Partner at Cornell Capital, added: “This transaction positions INW as a leading, full-service platform in this fragmented and high-demand segment of the health and wellness market. Capstone's expertise across a variety of product forms and ingredients, highly flexible infrastructure and 30-year history of quality and efficiency as a trusted brand partner are impressive.
“We look forward to partnering with Jared and the rest of Capstone's experienced team to share best practices and drive continued growth at INW across an expanded operational and customer footprint.”
Terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.
Guggenheim Securities, LLC is acting as financial advisor to INW and Cornell Capital, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is acting as legal advisor. Jefferies LLC and BMO Capital Markets Group are acting as financial advisors to Capstone, and Fredrikson & Byron P.A. and Kirkland & Ellis LLP are acting as legal advisors.
