Monogram Capital Partners sealed the firm’s biggest deal in its 11-year history, with its reacquisition of Western Smokehouse Partners, a leading contract manufacturer of premium meat sticks.

The price tag for the Galesburg, Illinois-based snack producer was about $500 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Jared Stein, the co-founder and partner at the Beverly Hills-based Monogram, didn’t confirm the sum. However, he said the acquisition marked the 39th investment for his firm and its most successful.

“Western Smokehouse exemplifies everything we seek in an investment,” said Stein. “It is a family-owned business with a tremendous market growth opportunity, in an area of the supply chain that is incredibly difficult to scale while maintaining quality.”

Monogram originally acquired a majority stake in Western Smokehouse, which manufactures for private label and meat-snacks brands like Chomps and Simply Good, for an unspecified amount in 2018. Five years later, the firm sold that stake to Florida-based AUA Private Equity while retaining a minority interest. Stein also remained on Western Smokehouse’s board for two years. He will return as the board’s chair with this latest deal.

AUA will not serve on Western Smokehouse’s board.

‘Much momentum’

The reacquisition comes at a time of significant growth in one of the most popular food snacks. Consumer analyst group Circana reported sales of dried meat snacks – excluding jerky – increased by 10% to $3.29 billion in December 2024, compared to the same period in 2023.

Meat snacks including beef jerky also have seen a significant boost. In 2015, the U.S. market for meat snacks weighed in about $1.5 billion, according to the consumer research division for Nielsen Holdings. The industry stood at about $5 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $6 billion by 2027, according to business intelligence platform Statista.

Monogram sought to reacquire “out of this immense conviction” that Western Smokehouse and the overall industry will continue to surge in the coming years, Stein said. The snack producer is expanding to seven facilities by the end of the year.

“There is much momentum in the existing format and core,” Stein said. “Most of our customers have not gotten their full volume demands and that is the reason why we are (growing by) two facilities and expanding one of our existing facilities.”

Western Smokehouse Chief Executive Matt Bormann added: “We’re poised to double our production capacity over the next year, and Monogram’s strategic and operational support will be critical as we scale to meet growing demand.”

Organic ingredients

Monogram has targeted their investments into snack producers who use organic ingredients. That includes food and beverage brands like Koia Inc., Real Greek’s Ellenos, Olipop, Paleteria La Michoacana and Suja Life’s Suja Organic.

Western Smokehouse is among manufacturers who offer meat snacks produced without food coloring and sugars. The company boasts it offers the “Better for You” meat snacks.

Monogram has been working to gain ground in this category. In 2016, the private equity firm acquired Country Archer Provisions, a San Bernardino-based meat snacks brand sold at local Starbucks Corp.’s stores. Since then, Monogram made a $10 million investment to expand its Country Archer’s production capacity, and it plans to open a production facility in Vernon this fall. The new plant will be housed in a former production center for Smithfield Foods Inc.’s Farmer John.