Sun Capital to make 8x its money on Captain D’s Seafood sale

Centre Partners, a middle-market private equity firm that has invested in Bumble Bee Foods and Bellisio Foods, closed its acquisition of Captain D’s on Dec 3. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Nashville-based Captain D’s operates 521 seafood-themed, casual restaurants in 26 states. Company management will own a significant stake in the business, Centre Partners said in a statement. Captain D’s does not disclose financial information, but the company had revenue of $235 million in 2009, according to Bloomberg News.

Sun Capital acquired Captain D’s in 2010 from Charlesbank Capital Partners. The investment came from Sun’s fifth fund, which collected $6 billion in 2007. Sun Capital Partners V LP, after suffering some early losses, was reduced to $5 billion to accommodate LPs, peHUB has reported.

The sale of Captain D’s is expected to generate an IRR of 100 percent, the source said.

The strong return comes as Sun is out marketing for its sixth pool, which has a $3 billion target. Sun began fundraising in December 2012 and hoped to wrap up marketing that month. However, the fundraising is taking longer than expected and the buyout shop will approach $2 billion by the end of this year. Sun expects to finish up fundraising in 2014, peHUB reported in November.

Fund V has produced other “screaming homeruns,” one placement agent said.

In 2009, Sun sold Timothy’s Coffee to Green Mountain and made 5.25x its money. Early in 2012, Sun sold Raybestos Powertrain to Monomoy Capital, making 110x return on its investment, peHUB has reported.

More recently, Sun Capital successfully took high-end sportswear brand Vince Holding public. Vince shares jumped about 50 percent during their first day of trade in November. The strong IPO helped Sun Capital put its once-challenged investment in Kellwood Holding, a Fund V investment and owner of Vince, in the black.

Sun Capital declined comment.

Luisa Beltran is a senior reporter for peHUB