02.18.00
The Food Partners Formed to Focus Exclusively on Food Chain
Former KPMG Retail Ventures group members establish only national investment banking firm to focus exclusively on entire food chain.

February 18, 2000, Washington, DC - P. Gregory O'Brien and David W. Schoeder, principals, today announced the formation of The Food Partners (TFP), a national investment banking firm focusing exclusively on the food chain.

O'Brien and Schoeder are former managing directors of KMPG Retail Ventures. They, along with TFP's other founding partners, Dave P. Collins, Matthew S. Morris and Carlos A. Garcia, were instrumental in making KMPG Retail Ventures KMPG's most successful finance group in the U.S. prior to forming TFP.

Together, they represent more than 80 years of experience providing merger, acquisition, divestiture, capital raising and strategic advisory services to companies throughout the food chain.

Value drivers, trends, competitive landscape, players and motivations
"Given our collective experience, we know the value drivers, trends, competitive landscape, players, motivations and capital and liquidity issues throughout the entire spectrum of the food chain. It is our strong belief that this knowledge provides added value to all of our food industry clients," said O'Brien.

"For a variety of reasons, KMPG's focus limited our ability to fully participate in all segments of the industry and to take advantage of the extensive knowledge we share as a group.

A more nimble organization
"We also wanted to be a more nimble organization and to have our structure more closely resemble that of the majority of our clients - privately held companies that are specifically staffed and designed to react quickly to changes in the marketplace," he added.

In addition to being the only national investment banking firm dedicated exclusively to the entire food chain, TFP has developed what it believes to be the single most useful analytical tool in the industry today.

"The Strategic Review is unique to the industry and is based on our extensive experience in analyzing hundreds of capital expenditure projects and transactions. Basically, the Strategic Review helps clients match strategy with finance. The Strategic Review provides factual information and insight to help evaluate strategic options for clients looking to generate growth capital while reinvesting in their business and providing liquidity to their shareholders,"said O'Brien.

"In short, the Strategic Review helps drive shareholder value by providing the factual data that clarifies clients' understanding of their company's value and its key value drivers," he added.

From agriculture and manufacturing to distribution and retail
TFP's five partners, frequent speakers at national industry conferences, have served clients throughout the food chain from agriculture and manufacturing through distribution and retail. They have been the advisor on more than 50 mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and recapitalizations representing total consideration in excess of $3 billion during the past seven years, and, together, have been involved in the placement of nearly $5 billion in financing. TFP partners include:

P. Gregory O'Brien
O'Brien has more than 17 years of investment banking experience within the food industry specializing in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures and providing corporate finance and strategic advisory services. Over the last 7 years, O'Brien has been the advisor on more than 55 mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and recapitalizations representing total consideration of nearly $3 billion and has been involved in the establishment and funding of more than 25 ESOPs within the food industry. Prior to forming The Food Partners, O'Brien was a managing director at KPMG Retail Ventures, KPMG's most successful corporate finance group in the United States. Prior to KPMG Retail Ventures, O'Brien was managing director of the Cooperative Funding Corp., the investment banking affiliate of National Cooperative Bank. He began his career as an analyst at Swiss Bank Corp. who was both an investor in and lender to various food related LBO groups and funds including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Forstmann Little & Co.

David W. Schoeder
Schoeder has more than 25 years of investment banking experience within the food industry specializing in debt restructuring, debt placement and strategic advisory services. He is also a leading national expert on capitalization and governance issues relating to cooperatives. Over the last 7 years, he has been involved in the placement of more than $2 billion of debt financing. Schoeder served as managing director at both KPMG Retail Ventures and the Cooperative Funding Corp., the investment banking affiliate of National Cooperative Bank, prior to forming The Food Partners. While at the Cooperative Funding Corp., Schoeder was involved in the placement of more than $1 billion of debt financing. Prior to the Cooperative Funding Corp., Schoeder served as the Assistant Treasurer of Farm Credit Banks of St. Paul, a $12 billion lending institution to agribusinesses. He serves on the board of a number of private companies including Blooming Prairie, a leading wholesale cooperative distributor of natural and organic foods.

Dave P. Collins
Collins has more than 17 years of investment banking experience within the food industry specializing in acquisition planning and execution in addition to strategic advisory services. Over the last 7 years, Collins has been an advisor on more than 50 mergers, acquisitions and divestitures representing total consideration of nearly $1 billion. Prior to forming The Food Partners, Collins served as manager at KPMG Retail Ventures, KPMG's most successful corporate finance group in the United States. Prior to KPMG Retail Ventures, Collins served as Director - Financial Planning at Nash Finch, the third largest food retail and distribution company in the United States, with over $4 billion in annual revenues. At Nash Finch, Collins analyzed more than 200 capital expenditure proposals and 70 transactions, including acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and supply agreements, involving the company's grocery wholesaling, supermarket, dairy, and produce growing, packing and importing operations. Prior to Nash Finch, Collins served as an executive with Stop-N-Go of Madison, a 55-unit chain of convenience stores.

Matthew S. Morris
Morris has more than 8 years of investment banking and corporate finance experience specializing in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures involving food companies throughout the United States. Over the last 4 years, Morris has been an advisor on more than 30 transactions, which collectively represent total consideration of over $500 million. Prior to forming The Food Partners, Morris served as a Manager at KPMG Retail Ventures, KPMG's most successful corporate finance group in the United States. Morris began his career as an attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission where he, among other duties, analyzed disclosure in registration statements for corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, tender and exchange offers and spin-offs.

Carlos Garcia
Garcia has nearly 6 years of investment banking experience specializing in analysis of the financial and operational information of food companies, applying the data to detailed pricing models and conducting financial and strategic analyses of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, debt placements and recapitalizations. Over the last six years, Garcia has analyzed more than 100 transactions involving food companies. Prior to forming The Food Partners, Garcia served as senior associate at KPMG Retail Ventures, KMPG's most successful corporate finance group in the United States. Prior to joining KPMG Retail Ventures, Garcia was a Senior Consultant for KPMG's Corporate Finance group in Texas, where he participated in general financial and strategic advisory projects, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, debt placements and recapitalizations. Additionally, Garcia assisted other KPMG groups in financial modeling, valuation analysis, litigation support and forensic accounting projects in the U.S and Latin America.

The Food Partners is a Washington, DC-based national investment banking firm focusing exclusively on the food chain. With more than 80 years of collective investment banking experience, TFP provides merger, acquisition, divestiture, capital raising and strategic advisory services to the food industry. Clients served by TFP span the entire food chain and include privately and publicly held companies and cooperatives.