Butterfly Equity is pursuing a continuation vehicle (CV) for Actus Nutrition, a portfolio company it has held since 2022, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

The Los Angeles-based manager wants to raise around USD 1bn in equity, two of the sources said, adding that commitments have been secured from a lead investor for up to about half that amount. The rest of the equity is now being syndicated to other investors, these sources said.

All three sources noted that William Blair is advising Butterfly on the CV for Actus, which manufactures ingredients used in whey protein products.

The company is considered one of the leading performers in Butterfly’s second flagship fund, which closed on USD 1bn in 2022, said one of the sources. The GP – a specialist food investor that, as Mergermarket has previously reported, regards rising protein demand as a long-term shift linked to a focus on calorie consumption and better eating habits – sees further value in retaining the asset.

It acquired Actus, then known as Milk Specialties Global, from American Securities in December 2022. Prior to the sale, this news service reported that the company was being marketed based on EBITDA of around USD 185m.

Actus has grown in size under Butterfly’s ownership, notably expanding its production network in 2025 through the acquisition of Foremost Farms’ 99,000-square-foot whey protein facility in Sparta, Wisconsin.

There have also been incremental monetizations via dividend recaps. In September 2024, the company raised a USD 300m second-lien loan and distributed the proceeds to shareholders.

Last year it undertook a refinancing with a USD 1.25bn term loan that repaid existing borrowings and funded a shareholder distribution of up to USD 143m, according to a Moody’s report. This was followed by a USD 150m term loan add-on in January 2026 that financed another dividend.

According to Moody’s, Actus had debt-to-EBITDA leverage of approximately 5.4x for the 12 months ended December 2025 pro-forma for the upsized term loan. It expected this to decline to mid-4x during the fiscal year ending June 2026, noting strong demand for protein.

Founded in 1945, Eden Prairie-Minnesota-based Actus operates 14 manufacturing facilities across the US, sourcing and manufacturing all its ingredients in the US and shipping to over 50 countries, its website states.

The planned CV for Actus comes after Butterfly closed a USD 527m CV for QDOBA a Mexican fast-casual restaurant franchisor, last year. The deal was led by Apollo S3, with additional commitments from new and existing investors, including Painswick Capital. QDOBA also features in Butterfly’s second fund.

The fund was still in investment mode as of 1Q26, which saw the acquisition of flexible packaging provider ePac. Following that deal, Mergermarket reported that the sponsor’s second fund was in the latter stages of deployment but still had remaining dry powder.

Butterfly subsequently teamed up with Graham Partners to invest in Custom Flavors in July. The same month, the sponsor made a Fund III filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. No target size was disclosed.

Butterfly and William Blair did not respond to requests for comment.