Baking & Snack - March 2010 - 42
46
STRATEGY & TACTICS
Why
the
Baking
Industry
John T. Stout Jr.: Its basic values encourage investment
and growth ... of both businesses and individuals.
Thrives
LAURIE GORTON
What makes the baking industry a good place for Plaza
Belmont to invest?
JOHN T. STOUT JR.
Our focus at Plaza Belmont is on acquiring manufacturing
companies and businesses related to the food industry. We
love the baking industry. Baking and its related industries
provide consumers with low-cost, great-tasting products
that are convenient and nutritious. Baked foods are excellent sources of fiber, complex carbohydrates and overall
nutrition that taste good. They deliver great value.
The baking industry is one of the oldest industries on
our planet and has survived and thrived for thousands of
years through innovation and continuous improvement.
The best-of-class companies in the industry provide excellent returns to investors and great employment opportunities. The baking industry has excellent management
for the most part and the ability to lock in margins with
various hedging tools. The baking industry thrives in
times of recession. It has stood up well against the test
of time.
What are the "basic values" that your group considers
when looking at an acquisition or investment?
Basic values are harder to assess than the more objective financial criteria, but more often than not,
such values and company cultures have more to
do with success. We look for experienced, ethical and enthusiastic personnel; superior facilities;
unique features in products, product development,
BAKING & SNACK / March 2010
Plaza Belmont Management Group is not
your average private equity firm. For one
thing, it focuses on food industry companies, particularly those making grain-based
foods, and for another, it empowers the operators that drive the acquired business to
excel. And, yes, it rewards its investors with
"a targeted return generated with a moderate level of risk," according to John T. Stout
Jr., Plaza Belmont's c.e.o. "We are proud that
we have always returned all of the principal
and interest to our senior lender partners
and have provided our investors with a net
internal rate of return of 18% over the past
10 years, which is better than most investment opportunities," he said.
To learn why this group takes such a proactive approach to investing in the baking
industry, Laurie Gorton, Baking & Snack's
executive editor, posed a series of strategyand-tactics questions to Mr. Stout about his
business specifically and the baking industry in general.
Baking & Snack - March 2010
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baking & Snack - March 2010
Contents
Baking & Snack - March 2010 - 1
Baking & Snack - March 2010 - 2
Baking & Snack - March 2010 - 3
Baking & Snack - March 2010 - Contents
Baking & Snack - March 2010 - 5
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