FOODHANDLER EXECUTIVES JOIN MEADOW RIDGE CAPITAL
-- Meadow Ridge Capital (MRC), a private equity firm specializing in the food and packaging industries, announced today that two former executives of FoodHandler Inc. have joined the MRC management team. Paul Bevilacqua comes on board as Managing Partner and Donna Cherulnik as Vice President. At MRC, they rejoin Dan Grinberg, the firm’s Founder and President, and the former owner and CEO of FoodHandler Inc., the nation’s largest supplier of NSF-certified food contact gloves and related food safety products and services.As a Managing Partner, Mr. Bevilacqua is responsible for deal sourcing, opportunity assessment, due diligence and providing strategic, financial, and operational support to MRC portfolio companies.
Prior to joining MRC, Mr. Bevilacqua was CFO of FoodHandler Inc. and BarrierSafe Solutions International (parent company of FoodHandler and a $200 million supplier of branded disposable gloves and related protective products for the foodservice, medical and industrial markets). He was also Corporate Controller at Yellowbook, the leading independent publisher of print and online yellow pages. Over the course of his career, Mr. Bevilacqua has played a key role in multiple strategic and financial acquisitions and has served as the CFO of private equity-owned portfolio companies. He has also developed and implemented sophisticated financial models for a wide range of uses, from detailed customer profitability analysis to advanced financial reporting and analysis for private equity sponsors. A CPA, he started his career as an auditor with Ernst & Young and is a graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton where he received a B.S. in finance.
Ms. Cherulnik is responsible for MRC’s marketing and administrative functions and will assist in sourcing opportunities, due diligence and portfolio company support. A Certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) with 30 years experience in operations management, administration and planning, Ms. Cherulnik was responsible for Human Resources at FoodHandler and, prior to that, operations management at Publishers Clearing House, the direct marketing giant.
Said Mr. Grinberg, “The addition of Paul and Donna to our team demonstrates our commitment to making Meadow Ridge Capital much more than a source of equity. We are also a resource to help owners and management teams accomplish their business and financial objectives. With Paul and Donna on my team, FoodHandler was transformed from a $4 million family business into a $100 million industry leader, with restaurant and institutional customers throughout the United States and Europe, and a supply chain extending to the Far East. We’re prepared to achieve the same level of success for our portfolio companies.”
To contact Meadow Ridge Capital, call 516-342-9146 or visit www.meadowridgecapital.com
About Meadow Ridge Capital
Based in Jericho, NY, Meadow Ridge Capital LLC is a private equity firm with a focus on investing in small and mid-sized food and packaging companies.
Contact:
Heather Battaglia
HLD Public Relations
(516) 536-2020
Heather Battaglia@hldpr.com