Paine & Partners Forms New Advisory Relationship With SDA Ventures LLC

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