Southport, CT
Carter Morse & Goodrich(“CMG”) is pleased to announce that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to The Mad Rose Group, Ltd. (“Mad Rose” or “Company”) in its recapitalization with Incline Equity Partners (“Incline”). Transaction terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 1977 by Neal Rosenthal and Kerry Madigan, Mad Rose (aka Rosenthal Wine Merchant) is a prominent importer and distributor of fine wines and specialty foods from western Europe. Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, the Company has built a global brand through its dedication to partnering with only premium, family-owned estates producing limited quantities of exceptional wines for over 40 years. As it stands, the portfolio encompasses almost every viticultural area of France and Italy’s most esteemed wine regions, as well as Switzerland’s Valais district and Catalonia. Today, through a combination of direct sales and third-party distributors, Mad Rose offers access to a distinct and growing book of over 140 wine producers to both on-premise (i.e., restaurants/hotels) and off-premise (retailers) customers across the United States.
As Neal and Kerry were considering the next phase of growth for MadRose, they were seeking a partner who could provide liquidity for the founders and meaningfully invest in the Company’s future growth. After a competitive process, Neal and Kerry selected Incline given its prior experience in the industry and alignment with Mad Rose’s unique culture, interests, and growth agenda. Neal will continue to run day-to-day operations and portfolio development as CEO and will be joined by David Townsend, the former CEO of The Country Vintner, on the Company’s board of directors.
“Carter Morse & Goodrich tailored their process to meet our specialized needs and successfully guided us through every aspect of the deal from start to finish. It was their ‘outside the industry box’ thinking and prospecting that provided us with numerous attractive options from which to choose,” said Neal Rosenthal. “We are thrilled to embark on this new adventure with Incline. The partnership will build upon our long-established culture and permit us to reach our full potential as stewards of exceptional estate-bottled wines from multi-generational family domains. Incline’s powerful resources provide the additional expertise to expand our reach and to play an even bigger role in the fine wine trade.”
“This was an ideal situation for us,” said, Tom Ritchie, Partner at Incline. “Mad Rose is a founder-led, growing business that serves stable end markets in a sector where we have direct experience and an active operating partner. Additionally, Mad Rose has many identifiable ways to drive future growth that we look forward to executing upon. We are honored and excited to partner with Neal and his team.”
Terence Hannafin, Managing Director at CMG, shared “The Mad Rose Group is unique in many respects and working with this industry leader, its founders, and management team was a pleasure for Carter Morse & Goodrich. The opportunity to partner with the Mad Rose team was extraordinarily well-received in the marketplace and we could not be more delighted with the outcome.”
About Carter Morse & Goodrich:
Located in Southport, Connecticut, Carter Morse & Goodrich is a boutique M&A advisory firm that specializes in representing founder-led and family-held businesses valued between $20 million and $200 million. CMG specializes in helping owners of leading companies in niche markets to plan, prepare, execute, and close successful transactions that maximize shareholder value. We fully understand and appreciate the unique dynamics of closely-held businesses and the importance of legacies. While CMG provides a full range of investment banking services such as business sales and divestitures, equity and debt capital raises, acquisition services and pre-transaction advisory services, our primary focus is representing sellers who are pursuing their once-in-a-lifetime M&A transactions. For more than 30 years, the combination of our hands-on approach, senior banker attention, strategic guidance, seamless transaction execution and extensive network of domestic and international resources has enabled us to become a trusted advisor to hundreds of business owners. For more information, visit us at www.cartermorse.com.