May 28, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Chicago-based Entrepreneurial Equity Partners (e2p) announced it has closed its second fund – Entrepreneurial Equity Partners II – with $546 million in aggregate capital commitments.

The close of e2p II follows the close of the firm’s inaugural fund – e2p I – at $423 million in May 2021. 

Concurrent to the final close of e2p II, the firm also announced a new brand identity encompassing a new website, logo, and experience that better reflect its growth, vision, and expansion since its inception. 

As a middle-market private equity firm, e2p focuses on control-oriented stake investments in or adjacent to the food, consumer, and packaging industries, noting that e2p II will continue this strategy, targeting companies with minimum revenue of $50 million. 

The team of 20 employees claims extensive sector-specific operations experience and the executive networks they bring make them ideal partners for family-led businesses and corporate carve-outs.

Led by experienced food and CPG veteran execs and investment professionals, managing partner Mark Burgett has more than two decades of experience with private equity and finance, and managing partner CJ Fraleigh brings more than 25 years of experience, including prior roles as chairman and CEO of Shearer’s Foods, CEO of Sara Lee North America, and VP of Colas at PepsiCo.

“We are pleased and humbled by the investor support for our second fund,” said Mark Burgett, managing partner, e2p. “We view Fund II’s successful capital raise as a testament to the team we have built and our demonstrated ability to deploy capital into compelling opportunities. e2p II attracted a diverse array of real asset, private equity, and impact-oriented investors, including pension funds, endowments/foundations, family offices, and other institutional investors.”

e2p has built a portfolio totaling $1.7 billion in AUM to-date. After investment, it works closely with management to apply its proprietary North Star Investing Program as part of an overarching Business Transformation Plan (BTP) that is tailor-made as a roadmap for  transformation and accelerating value and impact for each of its portfolio companies. 

Upon the shoulders of continued success, e2p has also set out to reinvigorate the look and feel of its brand messaging and visual identity to better align with its journey to-date.

“We went through an in-depth process to select the best imagery, colors, aesthetic and messaging to represent e2p in a way that maintains and celebrates our history while still moving the brand forward,” said Amy Silverstein, partner, e2p.

“Over the last several years, we’ve worked hard to build our culture internally and among our portfolio companies, and we are excited to elevate our branding to better reflect that success externally as well.”

And as e2p stands ready to forge ahead with its second impressive fund and newly minted branding, Burgett noted how the team is also ready to dig in, saying, “We look forward to partnering with our investors throughout the lifecycle of the fund.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and Agtech Intel News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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