Hillcrest Capital Partners makes an investment in the Minnesota-based foodservice equipment and supplies dealership.

In an attempt to help grow the company, Premier Restaurant Equipment, a Minneapolis-based foodservice equipment and supplies dealer, has a new investor in the form of Hillcrest Capital Partners, a private equity firm in the same region. While exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, all of Premier's existing management and sales teams will continue in their current positions.

"Premier President Jim Hara believes there is great opportunity to grow the business moving forward and wanted a partner that could provide capital and strategic insight," said Jeff Turner, Hillcrest managing partner. "And we feel there is great opportunity to grow this business moving forward. We look forward to expanding Premier's reach through strategic acquisitions, opening of satellite offices, hiring of additional sales people and other exciting growth opportunities."

Turner said no specific timetables have been established pertaining to Premier's growth plans. "We will be prudent about our plans and want to make sure the business does a good job of servicing existing customers and execute on opportunities that come available to us," he said.

This also marks Hillcrest's initial foray into the foodservice equipment and supplies arena, according to Turner. "We are more generalist investors and what's important to us is finding opportunities that have good growth potential with a good management team. Premier has that, so this makes sense for us to partner with them," he said.