When enough is enough. A lullaby of PE meet stick saga

I traded stocks when I exited one of my companies in 2010. Back then, I lost all my money to the open market. One of the lessons I learned was to allow the profit to grow and cut losses quickly. This was the only way to show an exceptional performance (which I showed later, while occasionally trading stocks). 

However, today’s story is not about the stock market, but about the mid-market PE firms and the deals they make. Over the past years, studying over 2000 deals, I have not heard the term “re-acquire” applied to private companies. And that’s why this story is so unique. 

In 2018, a mid-size Beverly Hills-based PE firm with a focus on CPG and retail, Monogram Capital Partners, managed by a great team of mid-age Stanford/Harvard MBAs, discovered a 40-year-old firm called Western Smokehouse Partners - a producer of meat sticks. In fact, the Monogram team has discovered a jewel: in a few years, they have grown from 1 location to 3, multiplied EBITDA 5 times, and successfully exited it to AUA Private Equity Partners in 2023. Success story, right?

Could be, yet the problem was that Western Smokehouse was indeed a jewel, which Monogram should have retained for years ahead, from one of their funds to another. Yet, they exited. And what was their BIG surprise was when the new buyer, operationally-focused, lower-middle market investment firm AUA managed by an average-ranking school alumnus with great operational capabilities … managed to explode the business (to the moon 🚀). In just two years, they increased production capacity, opened another facility, completed the acquisition of Golden Valley Natural (another manufacturer of premium jerky and meat sticks), professionalised its management, invested heavily in automation, and de facto brought Western Smokehouse to the US market leader position in the better-for-you protein snacking space! What a bummer for Monogram. What would people say about them now, as it seems they have exited too early? 

So, in July 2025 (just 2 years after they had exited the deal), Monogram reacquired Western Smokehouse again. Yet now for $500 million.

The moral of this story - no one knows the future, but it looks like if you have a real jewel in your portfolio, you should rather hire some really strong, bold operations guys with years of experience than just sell your best investment. More details on the deal are here: https://discoperi.com/deals/monogram-capital-partners-acquires-western-smokehouse-partners-llc-2025/