India Brook Partners advises Koppers Chocolate on sale to nuts.com
 

Short Hills, NJ, October 15, 2016. Brook Advisors, the investment banking arm of India Brook Partners, is pleased to announce that it acted as exclusive financial advisor to Koppers Chocolate in its sale to Nuts.com, Inc. Koppers Chocolate is a manufacturer of premium branded and private label chocolate candies and other confections. Founded in 1937 and based in New York City, Koppers is a third-generation business owned by the Alexander family, and has been highly respected as one of the leading manufacturers of “panned” gourmet chocolates and specialty confections in the world.  Koppers sells both directly to leading retailers and through national and regional distributors. The Company has long standing relationships with leading specialty, grocery, candy and gourmet food stores including Bloomingdales, Zabar’s, and Dean & Deluca. 

Nuts.com is a manufacturer, distributor and online retailer of snacks, candy, confections and other food products. Nuts.com has experienced significant growth in the past few years under the leadership of Jeff Braverman, its President. 

The transaction involved an all cash sale to Nuts.com. Koppers operated a manufacturing facility in New York City which was relocated to the headquarters of Nuts.com in Cranford, NJ.  Nuts.com retained substantially the entire Koppers workforce. Koppers considered a number of strategic alternatives before deciding to seek a partner to acquire and continue its long established business. Koppers wanted to achieve not only a successful financial result but also to preserve the stability of the Company’s operations and the relationship with its operating team. A competitive sale process managed by  Brook Advisors achieved a highly attractive financial result and  also assisted  in finding a new platform for the Koppers business with Nuts.com. 

Brook Advisors, LLC, the investment banking arm of India Brook Partners, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Koppers in its sale to Nuts.com. The transaction with nuts.com successfully met the financial objectives of the selling shareholders,  attracting a successful, growth oriented industry buyer while also repositioning the Koppers business with a new platform that will continue the legacy of Koppers and value the contributions of its longstanding associates.