Paine Schwartz Partners, a global leader in sustainable food chain investing, today announced that it has made an investment through Paine Schwartz Food Chain Fund V in Sterilex (the “Company”), a recognized industry leader for developing innovative proprietary food safety antimicrobial products designed to disinfect and eliminate resistant microorganisms across a wide range of industries, including food processing, animal health and water treatment. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1994 and based in Hunt Valley, Maryland, Sterilex is a total food safety solutions provider committed to delivering proprietary technology to eliminate microbial challenges from farm to fork. The Company’s proprietary products remove biofilm, eliminate resistant microorganisms, and maintain healthy commercial operating environments in the industries it serves:
- Food processing: Safeguard the world’s food supply by providing products, expertise and training to food and beverage manufacturers to detect and destroy biofilm, and kill high-risk pathogens and spoilage organisms.
- Animal health: Help raise healthy animals by providing tools to treat and control resistant pathogens to limit the potential spread of disease and improve animal welfare and food safety.
- Water treatment: Provide microbial control for dangerous pathogens that can prematurely damage equipment, destroy energy efficiency and become public health risks.
The Company’s management team, including CEO Alex Josowitz, will continue to lead Sterilex, as it serves more than 5,000 customers and 10,000-plus end-users around the world.
This strategic investment builds on Paine Schwartz’s track record of investing in food safety companies, including its previous investment in, and recent successful exit of, FoodChain ID.
“Sterilex is dedicated to keeping the world’s consumers safe through a commitment to innovation and best-in-class food safety and biosecurity products,” said Alex Josowitz, CEO of Sterilex. “We are excited to partner with Paine Schwartz as we accelerate our development of market leading solutions and drive food safety thought leadership throughout the food value chain. In Paine Schwartz, we’ve found a partner with a successful track record of building food safety technology companies as well as a shared commitment to sustainability and human and animal health. Paine Schwartz’s investment provides us the resources to build upon our strong foundation, capture growth opportunities in the markets we serve and enter new industries and geographies as we work to scale our differentiated food safety platform. We look forward to working closely with the Paine Schwartz team as we enter our next phase of growth while continuing to provide our customers with solutions that safeguard our food supply, protect human and animal health, and increase productivity.”
Kevin Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer of Paine Schwartz, said, “Food safety has long been an investment thesis for Paine Schwartz, and we see significant opportunities ahead for Sterilex and its differentiated microbial control offerings. With increased global food and protein processing, more robust global regulatory standards and heightened consumer awareness around food safety, the demand for Sterilex’s products continues to increase. We look forward to working with Alex and the rest of the team to unlock the Company’s next phase of growth.”
KPMG Corporate Finance LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to Sterilex, LLC.
About Sterilex
Sterilex is a recognized industry leader for developing innovative, award-winning solutions for disinfection and microbial control. Based in Hunt Valley Maryland, Sterilex addresses sanitation and microbial challenges through its line of proprietary, award-winning biofilm-control biocides, broad spectrum disinfectants and rapid biofilm diagnostic tools that can be used in a variety of applications such as food and beverage protection, animal health, and water treatment applications. For further information, please see www.sterilex.com.
About Paine Schwartz Partners
A global leader in sustainable food chain investing, Paine Schwartz Partners is a private equity firm focused exclusively on investment opportunities in the fast-growing, dynamic global food and agribusiness sectors. The firm’s investment, operations and finance professionals invest throughout cycles across the food and agribusiness value chain, and bring a collaborative and active management approach to portfolio companies. For further information, please see www.paineschwartz.com.