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Private Equity Firm Buys Buffalo Hotel Supply

Private-equity firm Lorraine Capital has acquired 100 percent of the stock in Buffalo Hotel Supply, an Amherst, N.Y.-based foodservice equipment and supplies dealership. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

“We are healthy and financially strong, so this was the best of all worlds for us,” said James Bedard, president of Buffalo Hotel Supply. “Our 76-year-old family business will partner with Lorraine Capital, whose majority shareholders include a venerable fourth-generation family business, the Gioia family. It is business as usual. They are keeping the name and looking to grow the company. The Lorraine partners have many contacts in the foodservice business and they plan to inject the necessary capital to keep growing BHS.”

All of Buffalo Hotel Supply’s employees, including the current management team, will remain with the company. In addition, James Bedard will continue in his role as president of Buffalo Hotel Supply and Ginger Bedard remains a vice president of the company, overseeing its Rochester, N.Y., operation. “One reason they bought the company was due to its brand and reputation. And they were very impressed with the employees and their longevity,” James Bedard said.

For its 2013 fiscal year, Buffalo Hotel Supply reported sales of $24.55 million, making it the nation’s 56th largest foodservice equipment and supplies dealer, according to FE&S’ 2014 Distribution Giants Study.

This deal marks Lorraine Capital’s initial foray into the foodservice industry, Bedard added.