Why Work With Us?
Seller-Friendly Approach
We listen humbly to understand sellers’ needs and desires. Then we respond quickly and efficiently, focusing only on the issues that matter and without unnecessary information requests.
Creative Solutions
We deliver fair valuations and develop tailor-made, creative solutions that ensure successful results for all stakeholders.
Family to Corporate Level
Our team has a unique mix of experience in operating small family businesses, large international corporations, and everything in between.
Consolidation Specialists
Through a highly disciplined acquisition and integration program, and with past success in over 520 transactions, we seek to consolidate, reinvent and become the dominant force in the industries we participate in.
Industry Knowledge
We acquire, consolidate and professionalise industries in which our distinguished team has direct operating experience and complementary global expertise in M&A, financing and business development.
Value-Add Objective
We always choose well-run, highly reputable businesses where we can share our expertise and connections with our management teams to add value.
Who We Are
MurexCo is a dynamic investment company currently focused primarily on European food manufacturers, with a particular interest in ethnic foods including processed meat. In conjunction with management, we seek to acquire, consolidate and professionalise within market sectors in which our highly distinguished team has direct operating experience and complementary global expertise in M&A, financing and business development.
We are seeking to acquire well-run, highly reputable businesses for fair valuations. Our strategy is to build the leading company in the respective industries we participate in by partnering with the best independent operators to implement a highly disciplined acquisition and integration programme. To this we bring professional management, a resolute focus on solid strategic planning, hands-on implementation, strict performance monitoring, innovative technology, and effective sales and marketing. Our goal is nothing short of reinventing the industry and becoming a dominant force in the ethnic foods market.
With a seller-friendly approach and a profound understanding of leading and growing companies during periods of significant change, we are able to move quickly and efficiently, focusing only on the issues that truly matter. As a result, our transaction structures and development strategies are tailor-made to ensure successful outcomes for all parties including our employees, suppliers, sellers and partners.
The MurexCo Team
The MurexCo advisory board, with a combined career total of over 400 years and 520+ transactions closed, combines exceptional investing and consolidation expertise with a wealth of food industry experience, including in food science and technology, engineering, and plant management. Our board members’ complementary skills and committed work ethic ensure that no stone will be left unturned in unlocking the potential of target companies.
Expert in board-led acquisition and consolidation wholly committed to pursuing opportunities wherever they are. The ethnic food trade is in his blood: Mr. Toulany cut his teeth as operations manager of his family’s food production business. Witnessing its creation, he played an increasingly important role as it grew to become the leading regional supplier.
A. Raymond Toulany
Founding Principal
Dealmaker with unique depth and breadth of business and legal experience in executing successful consolidation strategies. Directly involved in over 250 transactions for two leading consolidators, XPO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: XPO) and AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN), where he played an integral role in acquisition-led growth by boosting revenue from $177m to $15bn within five years and from $100m to $20bn within three years, respectfully.
Gordon E. Devens
Chairman
Visionary accounting CEO with over 40 years’ experience at Grant Thornton, which through the implementation of a unified corporate culture he led to become the world’s sixth largest professional services network. Recipient of the International Accounting Bulletin’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ed Nusbaum
Non-Executive Director
Seasoned financial executive and expert in technical accounting, operational controllership, financial reporting and auditing with global responsibility for Fortune 10 & 15 companies (XPO Logistics, General Electric, The Home Depot, PricewaterhouseCoopers) and a tremendous amount of early stage roll-up experience.
Kent R. Renner
Non-Executive Director
Performance-driven FMCG specialist with extensive knowhow in finance and strategy matured at leading multinationals in CFO and VP roles worldwide. Led numerous acquisitions and integrations for PepsiCo across Europe.
Gaetano Guerreri
Non-Executive Director
Forty-year career as a private equity investor focused exclusively on the lower middle market. Active investor for over 20 years in food and food-related manufacturing and distribution, niche transportation and logistics, packaging, and niche consumer products and services.
William V. Glastris, Jr.
NED & Private Equity Investor
Cutting-edge executive and food scientist versed in product innovation from concept to commercialisation, business development, and M&A across food, flavours and ingredients industries. For over three decades he has partnered with FMCG giants including Nestle, Unilever, Givaudan, Symrise and Mondelez.
Dr. Michael A. Patane
NED – Industry Expert
Leader in the US retail consumer foods industry with end-to-end CPG expertise ranging from innovation and R&D to supply chain, marketing and sales, as well as an outstanding reputation for working with family-run businesses. Responsible for the launch of 20-50 new products annually during his 20-year career at The J.M. Smucker Company.
Paul Smucker Wagstaff
NED – Industry Expert
Senior executive with a background in global retailing and fresh food supply and value chains from field to store, including 35 years’ experience in upholding the strictest safety and quality standards as a produce inspector and meat technologist. For Asda/Walmart, he was responsible for reviewing the company’s manufacturing sites worldwide.
Jim Jefcoate
NED – Industry Expert
Meat industry expert who has spent 50 years as a director, manager and engineer for major meat processing companies (Keystone Foods, IBP/Tyson, Mountaire Farms, Cargill, Campbell Soup Company) and built a reputation for award-winning, bottom-line-driven innovations to plant, process and equipment design, as well as industry leading operations management and safety standards.
Jim Bentz
NED – Industry Expert
Investment Focus
MurexCo currently seeks to acquire established small to mid-sized private and family-owned (sub-$25 million EBITDA) food processors located in Europe that have already achieved market penetration success with ethnic foods, such as sujuk, borek, döner kebab, kavurma, schnitzel, and kofte.
- Currently focused on companies based in Germany, but plan to expand to other European countries.
- Prefer profitable companies with strong teams and systems that will reach their full potential with additional capital and other resources that we can provide.
- Prefer an existing management team that will continue with the company post-acquisition.
- Strong interest in fragmented markets and consolidation opportunities.
- Not interested in pre-revenue startups or turnarounds at this time.
- Interested in control positions where our team can deploy our unique expertise in areas such as business strategy, operational efficiencies, acquisition execution and integration, HR, salesforce management, customer relationship management, and finance.
