TSG Consumer Partners


TSG Consumer Partners is a San Francisco, California-based private equity company. The firm was founded in 1987, and was among the first private equity firms to invest exclusively in consumer product companies.

History

The firm was founded in 1987 as the Montgomery Consumer Fund, a partnership with an initial equity interest from Montgomery Securities. In 1988 the firm's founders, J. Gary Shansby and Charles H. Esserman, repurchased Montgomery Securities' interest and renamed the company The Shansby Group.

The firm changed its name to TSG Consumer Partners in 2005 when Esserman became CEO. Shansby left the firm in 2005 to focus on philanthropic projects as well as health issues.
The firm has been noted as an anomaly in the private equity industry for its high percentage of female employees – 50 percent of the firm’s employees are women, compared to 13.7% of private equity professionals in North America. In its most recent fund, TSG reported a net return of 50 percent, more than double the industry average.

Investments

The firm is one of the largest and oldest private equity firms primarily focused on growth capital investments in middle-market companies in the branded consumer products sector.
TSG has used growth equity in a number of categories, including natural and organic foods, functional food and beverages, ethnic food and refrigerated entrées, orphan brands in personal care and household lines, apparel and accessories and pet care products.
Among TSG's most notable historic investments are well-known brands such as Famous Amos Cookies, Prestige Brands, Energy Brands, Voss, Pureology, Met-Rx, Smart Balance, Arrowhead Mills, BrewDog, Popchips, Planet Fitness and Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewing Company.

Funds

TSG closed its sixth fund, TSG6, in November 2011 with $1.3 billion. The seventh fund in the sequence, TSG7A and TSG7B, closed in November 2015 with $2.5 billion. The firm has approximately $5 billion in equity capital under management as of December 2015.