Gridiron Capital invests in Royal Paper

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Gridiron Capital, (New Canaan, Conn.) announced this month (Nov. 2018) an investment in Royal Paper, a private label consumer packaged goods company providing a broad range of tissue products to blue chip customers both in the At-Home and Away-from-Home markets.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., Royal Paper offers a complete selection of high-quality tissue products including bath tissue, paper towels, napkins, and facial tissue comprised of both premium virgin pulp-based products, which rival national brands, and environmentally friendly recycled tissue products. Royal Paper has a strong track record of growth driven by a core philosophy of focusing on customer service and consistently supplying high-quality products at a leading value, leveraging its state-of-the-art vertically-integrated manufacturing footprint.

Bob Sarraf, Co-Founder of Royal Paper stated, "We are extremely proud of the Company we have built over the past 26 years and we’re excited to be teaming up with Gridiron and leveraging their network and experience partnering with family-owned businesses to help supercharge the business." Will Hausberg, Managing Director at Gridiron Capital stated, "We are impressed with Royal Paper’s dedication to consistent quality, reliability and its ability to meet its customers’ needs in a flexible manner and we look forward to working with the owners and existing management team to build upon its success and further enhance the Company’s customer relationships over time."

As part of the new partnership, Royal Paper and Gridiron are excited to announce Kevin Otero as CEO of the Company. Kevin brings decades of general management, sales, marketing and strategy experience from his long tenure working in the consumer packaged goods space. Throughout his career, Kevin held multiple roles at Procter & Gamble, including most recently as VP of Global Operations. More recently, Kevin has worked in a consultative role with many small and mid-size corporations to assist them with their growth strategies. "I’m excited to be joining such a great team with countless opportunities ahead and am looking forward to helping accelerate growth and continuing to build best-in-class private label capabilities to partner with and help our customers grow their tissue products category," said Otero. Kevin Jackson, Managing Partner at Gridiron Capital, stated, "We are thrilled to have partnered with Otero and the dedicated Royal Paper team and are excited to preserve the customer-focused philosophy while the team continues to build and expand Royal Paper’s business."

Additionally, Sunil Kanuga has been named COO and Samir Kanuga has been promoted to CFO. Sunil and Samir’s commitment and focus on operational excellence has helped bring Royal Paper to where it is today and their leadership will help drive continued success. As part of the transition, Co-Founders Bob Sarraf and Sep Dardashti will serve as members of the Board of Directors and will be valuable resources to support the leadership team in strategic plans for growth. Additionally, Sep will continue to lead, support, and mentor the sales organization with more than 27 years of experience in the private label tissue industry. "Kevin Otero and the leadership team bring the right skillsets to carry on the Royal Paper legacy and continue to build on our successes to date. Kevin’s strong background and past experiences combined with his alignment with Royal Paper’s values and culture will ensure success for years to come," said Dardashti.

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