MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–H.I.G. Capital, LLC, a leading global private equity investment firm with over $25 billion of equity capital under management, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Vantage Specialty Chemicals Holdings, Inc., a leading, vertically-integrated provider of naturally derived ingredients, has acquired The Amarna Company.

Located in Delta, Colorado, Amarna is a leading manufacturer of a family of patented, next-generation water-based release agents sold under the Amarnakote™ brand name. Amarna is widely recognized as an industry leader in high-performance release products and spray systems used in a variety of food applications including bagels, dried fruit and jerky. Amarna’s water-based release agents prevent food from sticking while reducing or eliminating buildup on baking and dehydrator surfaces.

“We are excited about the addition of Amarna’s product offering to Vantage’s Food business,” commented Tiffany Kyllmann, Chief Strategy Officer of Vantage. “Amarna’s water-based release agent technology is an excellent complementary fit with Vantage’s oil-based release products. Vantage becomes the premier supplier in food release with the ability to offer multiple solutions tailored to unique product needs and processing requirements. Furthermore, this acquisition broadens Vantage Food’s focus outside of our core bread, cake and pizza markets into new product applications such as dried fruit, jerky and bagels. We look forward to working with the Amarna team to grow the business by leveraging Vantage’s sales and supply chain network globally.”

“We are pleased to support Vantage in its acquisition of Amarna,” commented Keval Patel, a Managing Director at H.I.G. “The investment continues our strategy of acquiring green, unique and complementary technologies in attractive, high growth end markets that will grow much faster through our broad, global distribution capabilities.”

Amarna is the second add-on acquisition that Vantage has completed since H.I.G. acquired the Company in October 2017.

About The Amarna Company

For 39 years, The Amarna Company has been the exclusive manufacturer of a family of patented, next generation, water-based release agents with unique cleaning properties. Amarna also offers a customized line of spray equipment designed exclusively for its release agent products. The Amarna Company is widely recognized as an industry leader in high-performance release products and spray systems that meet tomorrow’s food industry needs today.

About Vantage

Vantage is a leading producer of naturally derived, specialty ingredients focused on Personal Care, Food, Consumer Care and Industrial end markets with a portfolio of over 2,000 products. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Vantage operates a global manufacturing and supply chain across 6 manufacturing facilities, 13 formulation laboratories and 19 distribution warehouses located in 14 countries across the United States, Latin America, South Africa, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.vantagespecialties.com.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over $25 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused / value-added approach:

1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.

2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.

3. H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.