FER Exclusive: Interview With Jerry Hyman On The TriMark Deal

TriMark USA Pres./CEO Jerry Hyman was obviously very busy in the wake of the announcement of the deal with Warburg Pincus, but we caught up with him on the fly.

In an exclusive interview with FER Fortnightly, he detailed three aspects of the deal he believes are important. “For those who may not know, Warburg Pincus is one of largest and most established private equity firms in world, led by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner,” Hyman told FER.

“In my opinion, for a company of the caliber of Warburg Pincus to deploy the amount of capital that they decided to invest in TriMark is not only validation for TriMark but for our entire industry. I really believe that. To write the kind of check they wrote clearly indicates their confidence in the future potential of the foodservice equipment and supplies industry. Can you imagine Mr. Geithner and me talking about pots and pans? It’s been an interesting process.”

Hyman made two other notable observations about the value of the TriMark name and its employees.

“Second, senior management will continue to own a significant part of TriMark, so Warburg Pincus is not just our owner, but our partner. Third, and this is very important," he added, "all senior management have all decided to stick around. We’ve all signed up for another round. Several of our senior managers, of course, don’t really need a paycheck, but we’re all staying on as partners. And that’s a validation of our commitment and belief in the future of this enterprise.”