HEARTWOOD PARTNERS ANNOUNCES PLATFORM INVESTMENT IN BUSH BROTHERS PROVISION CO.

NORWALK, Conn., Dec. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Heartwood Partners^® is pleased to announce that Heartwood Partners IV, LP completed a majority investment in Bush Brothers Provision Co. ("Bush Brothers" or the "Company") on July 7, 2023.

Bush Brothers is a fifth-generation family-owned business and the owners retained a meaningful investment in the Company. "We are tremendously excited about our partnership with Heartwood Partners and look forward to working together on our next chapter of growth. We feel that their unique focus on establishing a strong balance sheet and their experience scaling businesses will enable us to substantially accelerate our growth plans. It is clear that Heartwood understands what makes Bush Brothers unique in our industry and supports our commitment to unrelenting service for customers and the preservation of our family business culture," stated Curtis Bush, President and fifth-generation owner.

The Company is headquartered in West Palm Beach, FL and provides premium protein products to a customer base of fine-dining restaurants, hotels, country clubs, mega yachts, and private chefs in Florida and the Caribbean. As a USDA-Inspected processing facility, Bush Brothers is able to source the highest quality protein products, and then process, portion, trim, and package that product to meet each customer's exacting specifications with an unmatched level of craftsmanship and service. Please visit the Bush Brothers website at www.bush-brothers.com to learn more about this Company's family roots and product offering.

"Bush Brothers has leveraged almost 100 years of experience in the protein industry to become the distribution partner of choice for some of the most demanding fine-dining customers in Florida and the Caribbean," said Ed Tan, Partner, Heartwood Partners. "We are eager to invest in the Company's future growth by partnering with management to rapidly increase production capacity so that Bush Brothers can offer more products to their existing customers and to present the Company's highly successful business model to more customers throughout Florida and beyond."

Heartwood Partners (www.heartwoodpartners.com), located in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a middle market private equity firm founded in 1982. Heartwood is differentiated by a unique lower-leverage, distribution-yielding approach to private equity, which is designed to create equity partnerships with continuing management. Our approach combines this conservative capital structure investment focus with strategic execution to support long-term growth, including organic and acquisition-driven expansion into new products, services, and end markets. We currently manage over $1.7 billion in investments and commitments and our principals have invested in more than 100 platform and add-on acquisitions. Presently, Heartwood is investing from Heartwood Partners Fund IV, LP which closed in September 2023 and is focused on family and management-owned companies operating in a variety of end-markets including industrial manufacturing, specialty chemicals, packaging, food and agriculture, distribution, and industrial and environmental services.

Bush Brothers Provision Company (www.bush-brothers.com) is a fifth generation, family-owned meat packing and distribution company, located in West Palm Beach, FL since 1925. The Company offers regular delivery throughout Florida, as well as export service to the Caribbean and Central and South America. Bush Brothers focuses on high-end, center-of-the-plate offerings across several protein categories, including beef, poultry, lamb, pork, and wild game. From its founding, Bush Brothers has worked tirelessly to build and maintain a reputation for excellent quality and superb service. The Company is proud to count among its customers some of the country's most luxurious hotels, exclusive country clubs, finest restaurants, and discerning private chefs.

SOURCE Heartwood Partners