Funds advised by SK Capital, a private investment firm focused on the specialty materials, ingredients, and life sciences sectors, have completed the acquisition of J&K Ingredients from CORE Industrial Partners.
J&K, headquartered in Paterson, New Jersey, is a provider of food and beverage ingredients solutions with an emphasis on natural, organic, and clean label products. The company differentiates itself with extensive custom formulation and new product development capabilities, leveraging deep expertise in quality, function, and compliance.
J&K developed the bakery industry’s first natural mold inhibitor, Bred-Mate, more than four decades ago, and provides a complete suite of specialty ingredients such as egg & milk replacements, emulsions, flavors, and bread bases to the bakery market today.
In 2019, the company launched SOR-Mate, the first high-efficacy clean label alternative to potassium sorbate for use across a wide range of product categories including bakery, beverages, snacks, pet food, and dairy.
“Clean label food preservation technologies are an increasingly important pillar of sustainability by reducing food waste and the associated environmental footprint, and J&K has already established itself as a critical, value-added clean label partner to its bakery customers,” said Mario Toukan, Managing Director of SK Capital.
“We feel privileged to play a part in bringing clean label preservative solutions to the broader food and beverage industry with SOR-Mate, as well as in building out a more comprehensive suite of natural and clean label solutions as we embark on J&K’s next phase of growth.”
Dan Lory, principal at SK Capital, added: “SK Capital has significant experience investing in ingredients businesses, and we believe J&K represents a tremendous opportunity to create a leading clean label ingredients platform. We are thrilled to be partnering with the J&K team to build upon the company’s stellar reputation and technical achievements to-date.”
“At J&K, we are very excited for our next chapter in partnership with SK Capital,” said Ricardo Alvarez, Ph.D., CEO of J&K Ingredients. “We look forward to continuing to provide best-in-class service to our customers while enhancing our commercial strategy and clean label product portfolio.”
Debt financing was provided by KeyBanc Capital Markets, Kayne Anderson Private Credit, and Benefit Street Partners.