When GenNx360 Capital Partners invested in Whitsons Culinary Group in 2021, the Hauppauge, New York-based company was a regional K-12 foodservice provider concentrated in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Five years on, through a carefully executed buy-and-build strategy, Whitsons has roughly tripled in size, with a footprint that stretches well beyond its traditional tri-state stronghold. However, GenNx360 believes that the company’s growth journey remains in its early innings, prompting the New York-based sponsor to turn to a continuation vehicle (CV) for its Fund III investment.

“We figured that this would be a great asset to put into a CV because the playbook was well understood for us,” Rishi Verma, a partner at GenNx360, told Mergermarket. “We knew exactly what we wanted to execute on, but we also saw the need for fresh capital to support that strategy.”

The CV closed in late September and was announced on 14 October. As previously reported, Churchill Asset Management served as lead investor, with GenNx360 and the company’s management also reinvesting as part of a transaction that includes approximately USD 285m of total equity commitments.

Familiar ground

GenNx360 had considered other realization options but began seriously evaluating a CV around mid-2025. It engaged Evercore to advise on the process.

The sponsor then spent roughly six months preparing before taking the CV to market toward the end of the year. Discussions with existing investors began even earlier.

“We’ve been having informal conversations with our LPs around setting up this transaction for more than a year or so, just so they knew what to expect and they were not caught by surprise,” Verma said.

The process ultimately took around nine months from formal launch to closing. Churchill emerged as lead following a process in which GenNx360 placed particular emphasis on finding an investor that could bring both a breadth of offerings to the table, as well as a partnership approach.

While this marks the first time Churchill has led a GenNx360 CV, the firms have worked together for years. Churchill has been an LP in GenNx360 funds for more than a decade and has also provided financing to several portfolio companies, Verma noted.

“Their proposal was what stood out to us as being the most well thought through,” he added. “They’re a great partner for us as a long-standing LP investor, senior debt and junior capital provider, and equity co-investor.”

As previously reported, the transaction saw approximately 20% of LPs roll over their interests. GenNx360 is also making a significant investment alongside the CV through its Fund IV, which closed in August with USD 865m in commitments.

The deal marks GenNx360’s second CV. The firm previously transferred aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider Precision Aviation Group into a USD 400m CV in 2023 before exiting the business earlier this year to VSE Corporation for just over USD 2bn.

Road to USD 1bn

After accounting for GP, co-investor, and management rollover, the CV raised roughly USD 125m in new capital, as reported.

This will support a growth strategy that has already transformed Whitsons from a regional K-12 operator into a larger, more diversified foodservice platform generating just over USD 500m in revenue and approximately USD 50m in EBITDA.

To get there, GenNx360 has completed eight add-on acquisitions, including last year’s purchase of Vermont-based foodservice provider The Abbey Group, which expanded the company’s presence across New England. Overall, the M&A strategy has helped the company expand into states such as Massachusetts, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington DC, Texas, and Illinois.

At the same time, Whitsons has diversified beyond its core K-12 market into areas including residential healthcare, senior living, transportation, retail foodservice, and convenience stores.

GenNx360 believes Whitsons has scope to exceed USD 1bn in revenue within the next three years, according to Verma. M&A is expected to remain central to the strategy, with continued tuck-ins on the horizon and a significant acquisition pipeline.

The K-12 segment represents one of the most obvious opportunities for growth with the CV funding. “From a geographic perspective within the K-12 space, we’re roughly only about a third of the addressable market right now,” Verma explained. “Clearly we want to spread out and bring the remaining two-thirds into play.”

Verma added that GenNx360 also aims to continue to diversify across its newer end markets and service offerings.

Looking further ahead, Verma noted that the company could ultimately attract interest from both strategic and sponsor suitors when it eventually returns to market, with an exit expected in around 2030.

“We think that given the scale of this business, the recession-resilient characteristics and the growth characteristics, this asset should attract a lot of financial sponsor interest,” he added.