Gulf Capital sells 100% of Chef ME to NASDAQ-listed The Chefs’ Warehouse

Gulf Capital on Wednesday said it completed the 100% sale of Chef Middle East (“Chef ME”) — a foodservice distribution business to Nasdaq-listed The Chefs’ Warehouse, a speciality food distributor operating across North America.

The $100 million sale is one of the few strategic sales involving a Nasdaq-listed company in the GCC region in recent years, the asset manager said in a press note.

Headquartered in Dubai, UAE, Chef ME was founded in 1995. The company's revenue grew over 150%, and its operating income projected a growth rate of 91% under the ownership of Gulf Capital. To achieve these strong results, Chef ME expanded regionally and increased its product range by adding 2,000 SKUs, the note highlighted.

Gulf Capital is one of the largest and most active alternative asset managers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Southeast Asia.

Karim El Solh, Co-founder and CEO, Gulf Capital, said, “Our investment thesis in Chef ME was to capitalise on the region’s fast-growing and strategically significant hospitality and dining industries. With our operating partners and Chef ME’s board and management team, we put in place a very ambitious growth plan, which we executed flawlessly."

"We are very proud of the growth of Chef ME during Gulf Capital’s ownership period. This control growth buyout with a deep focus on operational improvement and earnings growth followed by a global strategic sale is a good template for future private equity transactions in our region,” he added.