NEW YORK and CHICAGO and SAN
FRANCISCO, April 30, 2012
/PRNewswire/ -- Paine & Partners, LLC ("Paine & Partners"),
a global private equity investment firm, today announced a new
advisory relationship with Steve
Dubin and David Abramson of
SDA Ventures LLC ("SDA"). Paine & Partners and SDA will
work together to identify and execute investment opportunities in
the global human and animal food and nutritional products
industries.
"We have long-standing relationships with Steve and David, are
impressed by what they have accomplished in their careers, and are
excited to be working with them," said Kevin Schwartz, a founding Partner at Paine
& Partners. "Paine & Partners continues to focus on
opportunities across the food and agribusiness value chain and with
SDA we will be particularly focused on opportunities in the health
and wellness, functional food and nutritional supplement
sectors. Steve and David have significant experience and
relationships with companies in those areas and have a strong track
record of success. We look forward to working with Steve and
David, and leveraging their expertise to expand our investments in
new and exciting directions and to take advantage of additional
opportunities."
Mr. Dubin said, "Paine & Partners has a strong reputation
for investing and creating value in leading companies in the food
and agribusiness industry. I am excited about working with
the innovative and talented team of professionals at Paine &
Partners to develop proprietary investment opportunities across the
value chain. This relationship will provide an opportunity
for me to use my operating, financial, and leadership experience to
add value during the investment process and during Paine &
Partners' investment period."
Mr. Abramson said, "I am excited to work with the professionals
at Paine & Partners, who combine financial and transaction
expertise with a strong understanding of the global food and
agribusiness industry. I look forward to applying my
financial and industry experience to assist current portfolio
companies build further value and to identify new investment
opportunities. Together with the Paine & Partners team,
Steve and I will work to capitalize on those opportunities and
create value for investors."
Mr. Dubin and Mr. Abramson are currently Principals in SDA
Ventures, LLC, a firm focused on assisting emerging growth and
middle-market companies, primarily in the health & wellness and
nutritional products markets, on matters including corporate
development, business acquisition, customer relationships, growth
strategies and corporate finance.
Previously, Mr. Dubin and Mr. Abramson were the CEO and
President, respectively, of Martek Biosciences Corporation
(NASDAQ: MATK), a leader in the innovation, development,
production and sale of high-value products from microbial sources
that promote health and wellness through nutrition.
Messrs. Dubin and Abramson played key roles in developing
Martek's business from an R&D company to a fully integrated,
profitable, commercial organization with over $470 million in annual sales. Mr. Dubin, before
his election as CEO in July 2006,
served in a variety of positions with Martek, including as
President, CFO, Treasurer, Secretary, General Counsel and Senior VP
of Business Development. Mr. Abramson, before his election as
President in September 2006, served
as Senior Vice President for Corporate Development for a period of
three years.
Mr. Dubin's experience prior to Martek includes working with and
financing a variety of early-stage technology companies and
spending 12 years in various positions at Suburban Bank, now part
of Bank of America, including Vice President and Treasurer of its
venture capital subsidiary, Suburban Capital Corporation. Mr. Dubin
also co-founded the Chesapeake Emerging Opportunities Club, LLC, an
angel investing fund based in Columbia,
MD in 2001. Mr. Dubin has a BA the University of Maryland, College Park and JD from
the National Law Center at the George
Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Prior to joining Martek, Mr. Abramson was the Executive Vice
President and General Counsel for U.S. Foodservice. In
addition, Mr. Abramson was also the Executive Vice President for
Legal Affairs at Ahold, U.S.A. Mr. Abramson also served on
the board of directors of U.S. Foodservice from 1994-2003 and
served on the board of numbers non-profit community organizations,
including serving as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of
Howard County General Hospital - A Member of Johns Hopkins
Medicine. Mr. Abramson currently serves on the Board of the
Wellness Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, and Smart Tots, a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization funding research for pediatric anesthesia
safety. Mr. Abramson received a BBA George Washington
University and received a JD with honors from the University of
Maryland School of Law.
About Paine & Partners, LLC
Paine & Partners provides equity capital for management
buyouts, going private transactions, and company expansion and
growth programs. Paine & Partners engages exclusively in
friendly transactions developed in cooperation with a company's
management, board of directors, and shareholders. The firm
currently makes investments through its $1.2
billion fund, Paine & Partners Capital Fund III, L. P.
For further information, see www.painepartners.com.
Paine & Partners specializes in making private equity
investments in the food and agribusiness industry globally, with
both investment and operating professionals with long-term
experience in the sector. Together with its
predecessors Paine & Partners has made successful strategic
investments in Seminis (the world's leading global developer,
producer and marketer of vegetable and fruit seeds), Advanta
Netherlands Holdings BV (at the time, the largest independent
agronomic seed company in the world),Icicle Seafoods, (a leading
producer, harvester and processer of salmon, pollock, halibut, cod,
crab and other seafood products with operations in North and
South America and sales globally),
Scanbio Marine (a leading Norwegian producer of fish protein
concentrate, fish meal, and fish oil), and Costa Group
(Australia's largest integrated
grower, packer and marketer of fresh fruits and vegetables).
The complex investment opportunities in today's rapidly evolving
food and agribusiness environment play to the strengths of Paine
& Partners' differentiated approach.
SOURCE Paine & Partners, LLC
