TSG Consumer Partners is one of the largest and oldest private equity

Private equity

Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....

 firms focused on growth capital

Growth capital

Growth capital is a type of private equity investment, most often a minority investment, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new markets or finance a significant acquisition without a change of control of the business.Companies...

 investments in middle-market companies in the branded consumer products sector. The firm, founded in 1987, was among the first private equity firms to invest exclusively in consumer product companies.

Investments

TSG has used growth equity in a number of categories, including natural and organic foods, functional food and beverages, ethnic food and refrigerated entrées, orphan brands in personal care and household lines, super-premium, and personal care products.

Among TSG's most notable investments historically have included well known brands such as Famous Amos Cookies, Spic and Span

Spic and Span

Spic and Span is a major U.S. brand of all-purpose household cleaner, invented by housewives Elizabeth "Bet" MacDonald and Naomi Stenglein in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1933. The women experimented until they came up with a formula that included equal parts of ground-up glue, sodium carbonate, and...

, Prestige Brands

Prestige Brands

Prestige Brands, Inc. is a company that manufactures personal care and home cleaning products. It was formed by the merger of Medtech Products, Inc., Prestige Brands International, and The Spic and Span Company...

, Energy Brands (Vitamin Water), Voss

Voss (water)

Voss is a brand of bottled water bottled in Norway, and available in still and sparkling forms.Voss water is bottled by Voss of Norway ASA, a Norwegian Limited Company headquartered in Oslo, and marketed in over 50 countries with a focus on the United States....

, Pureology

Pureology

PureOlogy is a hair care and styling manufacturer with headquarters located at 565 5th Avenue in New York City.The company was founded in 2001 in Irvine, California by Jim Markham...

, Comet

Comet (cleanser)

Comet is a powdered cleaning product sold in North America and distributed in the United States by Prestige Brands. Scratch Free Comet with Bleach Disinfectant Cleanser contains 1.2% sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate and 98.8% "other" ingredients...

, Chloraseptic

Chloraseptic

Chloraseptic is an American brand of oral analgesic produced by Prestige Brands Inc, used for the relief of minor sore throat and mouth pain. Its active ingredient is phenol, a compound whose antiseptic properties were discovered by Sir Joseph Lister....

, Met-Rx

Met-Rx

MET-Rx is a brand name of nutritional supplements, originally produced by Met-Rx, Inc., a California company started by A. Scott Connelly, and sold several times since....

, Smart Balance

Smart Balance

Smart Balance, Inc. is a company that manufactures a series of products under the Smart Balance name, including margarine, flavored microwave popcorn, and peanut butter. The products claim to have no partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and extremely low levels of trans fats, and to be comparable...

, Arrowhead Mills

Arrowhead Mills

Arrowhead Mills is a brand of organic baking mixes, grains, cereals, and nut butters. The brand is owned Hain Celestial Group since 1999. Its consumer affairs department is based in Boulder, Colorado.-History:...

, and Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation

Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation

The Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation is the world's largest processor of macadamia nuts. The American company has been a subsidiary of The Hershey Company since 2004. The company takes its name from the volcano Mauna Loa...

.

Current investments include CytoSport

CytoSport

CytoSport is a Benicia, California, manufacturer of sports-oriented nutritional products, or "supplements". It offers a line of protein-enhanced powders, shakes, and bars has broken into the mainstream market with a ready-to-drink form of protein supplement "Muscle Milk", a non-dairy beverage...

, DenTek Oral Care

DenTek Oral Care

DenTek Oral Care, Inc. develops and markets oral care products in retail stores around the world. It is a privately held company, founded in 1984 and owned by CEO/CIO John Jansheski...

, Perricone MD Cosmeceuticals, Sexy Hair, e.l.f., PopChips and Yard House USA, Inc.

History

The firm, which is based in San Francisco, was founded in 1987 as a subsidiary of Montgomery Securities

Montgomery Securities

Montgomery Securities was a west-coast investment bank based in San Francisco, California, that specialized in high technology and health care sectors. The firm was founded in 1978 by Thom Weisel....

, known as the Montgomery Consumer Fund.

In 1988, the firm's founders, J. Gary Shansby and Charles H. Esserman, completed a spinout of the firm from Montgomery to form an independent firm known as The Shansby Group. Esserman became CEO in 2005 at which point the firm changed its name to TSG Consumer Partners.

Shansby left the firm in 2005 to focus on philanthropic projects as well as health issues.

External links

• TSG Consumer Partners (company website)