Experience
Current Partner Businesses:
Virtue Labs is a growth-stage omnichannel brand platform that manufactures, develops and markets innovative, technology-based personal care products. Products leverage the Company’s proprietary Alpha Keratin 60ku™ technology, a groundbreaking protein protected by 18 patents, and backed by over $30 million of research and development invested over the last seven years. The Company’s flagship Virtue brand, is the first collection of beauty products built with pure, human Keratin.
StriVectin is a branded cosmeceutical company focused on developing and marketing prestige skincare products, primarily within the anti-aging segment of the market. Brands are marketed under the StriVectin, Nia 24, and Canyon Ranch trade names. Wahoo partnered with Catterton Partners and Highland Capital to acquire StriVectin from Basic Research, a multi-level marketing business in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over a period of approximately 18 months, Wahoo advised Catterton and Highland on the acquisition, invested in StriVectin, and then worked directly with StriVectin management to execute the post-closing operational plan and transition the business from prior ownership. Parmentier served as StriVectin’s Transition Executive for nine months post-closing and Wahoo continues to be involved as a shareholder.
Selected Prior Experience:
Gabriel Brothers, Inc., founded in 1961, is an off-price apparel retailer headquartered in Morgantown, West Virginia. The company currently operates over 100 Gabriel Brothers and Rugged Warehouse branded stores throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern United States that earn over $400 million of annual sales. Wahoo sourced the proprietary acquisition of Gabriel Brothers and Rugged Warehouse in 2012, partnering with Alvarez & Marsal Capital to finance and sophisticate the business. From 2012-2016, augmentation of management, improved merchandising, and new store openings enabled the business to grow revenue substantially, and dramatically improved profitability, eventually culminating in the sale of the company to Warburg Pincus in January of 2017.
BeautyFirst-PureBeauty is a national chain of retail beauty boutiques providing customers with branded hair, skin, bath and body products along with salon and spa services. Wahoo partnered with Cameron Capital to acquire and consolidate 119 BeautyFirst and PureBeauty boutiques via multiple acquisitions. Wahoo invested in BeautyFirst-PureBeauty and Parmentier served as SVP and Chief Operating Officer for 18 months. As an investor-operator, Parmentier restructured business operations, provided strategic direction, managed corporate finance-related activities, drove growth and profitability initiatives, and supervised day-to-day operations. The BeautyFirst-PureBeauty relationship culminated with the sale of the Company to industry-leading Regis Corporation (NYSE: RGS) in 2008. After executing the sale of the business, Wahoo led a year-long post-closing integration of BeautyFirst-PureBeauty into Regis.
Bennett Footwear Group is a leading designer, marketer and distributor of women’s footwear. The team’s role involved partnering with management to purchase the Company in a management buyout, then leveraging its flagship brand, Franco Sarto, to acquire additional footwear and accessory brands, including Via Spiga and Etienne Aigner, prior to selling the fully-consolidated business to Brown Shoe Company (NYSE: BWS).
The Butler Company is the leading distributor of pet care products in the United States, supplying over 22,000 veterinary customers in all 50 states with 15,000 animal health, pharmaceutical, food and accessory products. The team’s role involved partnering with management to purchase the Company in a management buyout, restructuring the supply chain, consolidating the distribution infrastructure, expanding the customer base, and sophisticating the business. The business was recapitalized twice, prior to selling the Company outright to Oak Hill Capital in a transaction that occurred simultaneously with Butler’s acquisition of Burns Veterinary Supply. Butler was subsequently combined with Henry Schein, a leading distributor of dental products, and the entity was renamed Butler Schein Animal Health. The Company now trades on the NASDAQ and has a market value of $6.5 billion.
California Pizza kitchen (NYSE: CPKI) is a chain of casual dining restaurants selling pizzas, pastas, sandwiches and salads under the CPK and CPK ASAP trade names. The team’s role involved working with CPK owners Bruckmann Rosser Sherrill and Co. to raise growth capital through an Initial Public Offering, as well as a follow-on public equity offering, which enabled BRS to monetize its remaining ownership position.
Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) is a leading retailer of women’s apparel, beauty and personal care products, and accessories in the United States, Canada and Europe. The team’s role involved advising the Limited on its acquisition of Intimate Brands, a business that included the Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works retail chains. The acquisition resulted in immediate value creation for shareholders by reversing an implied negative valuation of the Limited’s pre-transaction core business.
Best Foods is a marketer of well-known food brands such as Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Knorr soups, Skippy peanut butter, Mazola oil, Thomas’ English muffins, and Entenmann’s sweet baked goods. The team’s role involved advising CPC International on the spinoff of these brands from the Company’s traditional corn refining business, in order to create the high-growth branded-food business that became known as Best Foods.