Olympus Serves Up Centerplate Acquisition

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Oct 16, 2012, 05:33 ET

STAMFORD, Conn., Oct. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Stamford, Connecticut-based Olympus Partners has acquired Centerplate, Inc. ("Centerplate") in partnership with Centerplate's management team. Centerplate, North America's leading event hospitality provider to the top sports venues, convention centers and entertainment venues, serves approximately 250 unique venues and 100 million guests annually. Centerplate has provided event hospitality services to 15 official U.S. Presidential Inaugural Balls, 13 Super Bowls, 20 World Series, the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and the largest plated dinner in history.

"We were thrilled to announce we had come to terms with Olympus Partners last month and we are even more energized today now that we have consummated the transaction," says Centerplate's President and CEO Des Hague. "With the new ownership structure in place, we have the leadership, strategy and resources to continue to fuel our success and our ability to grow our clients' business. This management led buyout will also provide continuity of key leadership, including our current, and invaluable, Chairman, Joe O'Donnell. Ultimately, we are in a really good place to drive meaningful growth in the months and years ahead."

"We are investing resources into Centerplate for one simple reason: this is a best in class company, led by an outstanding management team, poised for even greater growth in their industry," says new investor David Cardenas, Partner with Olympus Partners. "We are joining with this talented team in support of their industry-leading "Event Hospitality" approach, which we're confident will continue to drive the company's growth."

Founded in 1988, Olympus Partners is a private equity firm focused on providing equity capital for middle market management buyouts and for companies needing capital for expansion. Olympus is an active, long-term investor across a broad range of industries, including restaurants, consumer products, healthcare services, financial services and business services. Olympus has a long history of investing in successful foodservice businesses, including investments in the Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, Wendy's, Chili's and Golden Corral systems.

Olympus manages in excess of $3 billion on behalf of corporate pension funds, endowment funds and state-sponsored retirement programs. The investment in Centerplate is Olympus' tenth investment out of its $1.5 billion fifth fund.

The Olympus team included David Cardenas, David Haddad, Chase Ormond, and Matt Boyd. Olympus was represented by John Schoenfeld and Rob Kiburz from Kirkland & Ellis.

SOURCE Olympus Partners