Western Smokehouse Partners is changing private-investor ownership as the US-based meat-snacks maker is let go by majority owners AUA Private Equity.
Monogram Capital Partners is buying AUA’s share for an undisclosed sum, adding to its existing minority ownership. AUA had acquired the majority stake in the contract manufacturer from the same private-equity firm in 2023.
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The new owners said a statement that the rising popularity of high-protein, low-sugar, and portable snacks, boosted by increased health consciousness from GLP-1 trends, has “strengthened” Western Smokehouse’s position in the market.
Jared Stein, co-founder and partner at Monogram, said: “We have greatly enjoyed working with the AUA team over the last two years to scale the Western platform and are excited to further invest behind and support rapid growth in the business moving forward.
“High-protein meat snacks is the fastest-growing category we have seen in grocery. We identified the opportunity to leverage our deep CPG experience across both brands and manufacturers and our strategic retail partnerships to accelerate Western Smokehouse’s growth.”
Monogram said it plans to expand Western Smokehouse’s facilities to seven from the current five by the end of 2025.
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By GlobalData“Strategic M&A, building upon Western’s proven technical expertise in meat-snack manufacturing, will remain a focus of Monogram’s value creation efforts,” the investor added.
Other areas of Monogram’s portfolio include Olipop, a healthy soda brand, and Mountaintop Beverage, another co-manufacturer.
Western Smokehouse CEO Matt Bormann added: “We are poised to double our production capacity over the next year, and Monogram’s strategic and operational support will be critical as we scale to meet growing demand.”
Monogram first invested in Western Smokehouse, which manufactures for private label and meat-snacks brands, in 2018.
In 2023, Monogram sold a majority stake to AUA but retained a minority interest in the Galesburg, Illinois-headquartered food company.
David Benyaminy, a partner at AUA, said: “Western has been an exceptional performer in our portfolio. We are proud of the partnership and pleased to transition ownership back to Monogram, who we know will continue supporting the company’s next growth phase.”
Under the guidance of AUA, Western Smokehouse also acquired Golden Valley Natural, a jerky and meat sticks producer.
