“I have really appreciated and enjoyed working with E&A. It’s been a long road as it always is – but I don’t believe we have ever had so much trust between a seller [E&A] and Leviton. We decided things between us without lawyers because we know we can trust each other’s word. I remember Mr. Leviton telling me that we bought American Insulated Wire in 1936 on a hand shake. We sold it in 2010 with an army of lawyers”
I also [have] to say I’m incredibly impressed by E&A, I mean, this is a — they have pulled no punches. They basically have leaned into this business and they will lean into this business up to close. They are turning it over to us a fabulous business…and they’ve not cut any corners. [I am] very impressed [with] the management team…They share our DNA. They’ve done a remarkable job…I met with a couple of management, a couple of senior team members this week and there is a lot we can learn from them. I mean, we’re going to go to school quickly on the social marketing about how we leverage that first against Glutino maybe [against] Earth Balance and maybe ultimately…Smart Balance.”
I have worked with the team at E&A for a number of years. As partners and professionals, I have found them to be some of the most professional, thoughtful, creative and flexible I have worked with. I believe they bring more to a partnership than just pure capital—they are truly differentiated partners and thus I believe the E&A value-add is very high.”
Our partnership with E&A was extremely beneficial. Together, we were able to build a great brand that revolutionized the gluten free space. E&A was willing to spend time and money to invest behind the brand and build out the infrastructure and professional team ahead of growth. Ultimately, E&A was a great partner…they were always honest, inclusive, and above board.”
E&A’s strengths include focusing on businesses as operators. E&A is experienced in facing the challenges of growing a business. For small to mid-size organizations, E&A brings a wealth of experience including operations, marketing and sales. Their solutions are based on years of experience put to practice, not theories or wild guesses. For owners considering a full or partial sale, they understand the energy required to grow an organization to the next level and have both the organizational and financial expertise to execute successfully. “
E&A [companies] was the best thing that happened to Udi’s Healthy Foods. They brought much more value to our company than capital. They provided expertise, leadership as well as capital from the beginning up to the exit.”
E&A is a visionary company. They have a great management team and are honest in that they always do what they say they are going to do. I have been blessed with the opportunity to know and engage in a business relationship with them for the past five years.”
One of the real jewels of [the Udi’s] acquisition now is, quite honestly, everybody talks about leveraging social marketing to drive the business, and quite honestly, I think this is the first time I’ve seen a brand that really is doing that…They have a passionate, connected consumer relationship…When they go on the shelf, they activate the consumers in that market. They are geographically identified and activate sales very quickly.”
E&A [companies] brings a 30 year track record of growing small businesses. I don’t think there has been a situation we encountered where they could not provide some expert guidance based on past experiences.”
E&A [companies] is an important supporter of Naturally Boulder and of the natural products industry. Our mission is nurturing natural and organic products businesses of all sizes in Boulder and beyond, and E&A has played a very positive role in the growth and development of several homegrown natural products success stories. We look forward to their continued support and engagement as we work to cultivate the next generation of natural products entrepreneurs.”
Obviously, we’re very excited about this. We think we’ve got a great brand (Udi’s) with a terrific management team…I think E&A has done proud by their investment in not only the marketing, but the operations…”
One of E&A’s best value-adds is helping build out a strong team. Whether a high level executive or a technical specialist is needed, their network is vast and always expanding.”
I think one of the reasons why Udi’s has been so successful [is that] it’s the first company [conducting] a genuine sustained marketing [campaign] against the consumer target and they are doing it with a very efficient model using social marketing.”
From 1985 through 2005, I was President / Chief Operating Officer of E&A’s first company, Car Brite. During that time, the senior management team at E&A supported me with expert guidance on how to grow the business, provided the necessary financial resources to execute on our agreed strategies, and allowed my team to run the business day-to-day in pursuit of our growth objectives. Over this time period, the company rapidly grew revenue, became very profitable, and ultimately developed into the North American leader in its industry. Without a doubt, it was an extremely successful venture.”