Palladium Equity Partners and Management Announce Recapitalization of Hy Cite

NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Palladium Equity Partners, LLC (together with its affiliates, "Palladium"), a private investment firm focused on investments in the U.S. Hispanic marketplace, announced that it has completed a recapitalization of Hy Cite Enterprises, LLC ("Hy Cite") in partnership with Hy Cite's founding family and management team.  The terms of the investment were not disclosed.

With more than 50 years of operating history, Hy Cite has established itself as a premier direct selling and consumer finance company focused primarily on the Hispanic market in the U.S. and Mexico.  Hy Cite offers an extensive line of cookware and household products, including home cookware systems, air purification and water filtration systems, juice extraction systems, dinnerware and cutlery under the prominent Royal Prestige® and NutraEase™ brands.  The company's products are sold in the U.S., Mexico and other international markets through a network of over 3,000 authorized distributors that personally demonstrate the unique features of products directly to consumers in their homes, as well as at national venues such as bridal, houseware, and consumer shows. 

Hy Cite will continue to be led by members of its founding family, Erik Johnson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Peter Johnson, Jr., Chief Operating Officer, as well as by its current management team.  David Perez and Luis Zaldivar of Palladium will join Hy Cite's Board of Directors.

Erik Johnson said, "We are excited to be partnering with Palladium, a firm with substantial experience supporting companies in their continued growth.  Palladium is an ideal partner for Hy Cite given the firm's deep knowledge of the Hispanic market, its significant experience with consumer finance companies and its successful history of working with family businesses.  By partnering with Palladium we are strongly positioned to continue executing our expansion plan."

Luis Zaldivar, a Managing Director at Palladium commented, "We believe that Hy Cite has a terrific management team, an extraordinary growth trajectory and a tremendous opportunity to expand its footprint.  The Johnson family has built the highly regarded Royal Prestige® brand that stands for superior quality and innovation in cookware.  In our view, Hy Cite has significant growth potential domestically and internationally and we are thrilled to be working with management on a range of new initiatives to support the continued growth of the company in the years ahead."

McColl Partners served as Hy Cite's financial advisor. Greenberg Traurig was Palladium's legal advisor on the transaction.

About Hy Cite Enterprises, LLC (www.hycite.com)

Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, Hy Cite is a leading direct selling company focused on marketing high-quality, durable household products. Hy Cite's Royal Prestige® brand has become synonymous with reliable products of excellent quality, value, and dependability, developed by "world class" designers working with leading experts in health and nutrition.  Hy Cite's products include cookware, china, crystal, flatware, cutlery, water and air filtration systems, and juice extractors that are marketed in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and abroad through professional and knowledgeable distributors.

About Palladium Equity Partners, LLC (www.palladiumequity.com)

Palladium is a middle market private equity firm with over $1 billion of assets under management focused primarily on buyout investments. Palladium seeks to acquire and grow companies in partnership with experienced management teams, with a special focus on companies benefiting from the growth in the U.S. Hispanic population. Palladium principals have been actively involved in the investment of $1.5 billion of capital in approximately 50 portfolio companies since 1989 and have significant experience in financial services, business services, food, restaurants, healthcare, industrial, and media businesses. Palladium was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in New York City.

Media Contacts:
Jeff Taufield / Lyndsey Estin / Peter Hill
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(212) 521-4800

SOURCE Palladium Equity Partners, LLC