Consumer Products Company Monolith Raises $230M to Accelerate Acquisition and Growth Strategy

The New Funding Enables Monolith to Add to its Portfolio of Brands and Unlock Significant Growth by Expanding Reach to More Consumers.

Hayfin and Ares Participated in the Funding Round

Monolith Brands (“Monolith” or “the Company”), a consumer products company with a portfolio of omnichannel brands, announced today that it has raised approximately $50 million in equity and $180 million in debt capacity in its Series A fundraising round. The round was led by funds managed and/or advised by Hayfin Capital Management and Ares Management Credit Funds.

Monolith seeks to acquire established brands with differentiated products, avid customers, and strong market positions within particular subcategories. Monolith’s approach revolves around four core tenets:

1. Established Brand Strength.
   
   Monolith takes a disciplined approach to building its portfolio, focusing on mature brands with loyal customers and businesses with sustained operating history, cash flow generation, and existing corporate infrastructure. This approach provides downside protection from short-lived trends, while establishing a base framework into which Monolith can launch or integrate complementary products.
   
   
   
   
2. Sector-Specific Focus.
   
   Monolith is focused on a narrow set of sector verticals that demonstrate the highest potential for long-term growth and customer loyalty. These initially include Pet and Baby & Toddler; Monolith currently owns 11 brands within these categories and plans to expand to additional sectors that share similar characteristics and overlapping consumer bases. With a laser focus on these verticals, Monolith is attuned to industry-specific dynamics and has a deep understanding of consumer decision making.
   
   
   
   
3. Omnichannel Presence.
   
   Monolith has a robust presence across a multitude of sales channels that allows its brands to reach their core consumers wherever they may shop. Monolith’s senior team has a track record of leveraging data and consumer insights to inform targeted omnichannel growth strategies, diversifying revenue, and mitigating business risk for partner brands.
   
   
   
   
4. Long-Term Partnership.
   
   Monolith invests in brands with a long-term view and treats each acquisition as a partnership. When founders have taken their businesses as far as they can go on a standalone basis, Monolith provides the capital, operational resources, and sector expertise necessary to break through to the next phase of growth and profitability.

Pierre Abousleiman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Monolith said: “We are building a next-generation consumer goods company with a curated portfolio of brands that are well-positioned within their respective categories. We operate in a dynamic marketplace where many brands have recently had to adapt to a shifting environment. By identifying a core set of criteria – coupled with our disciplined approach to capital deployment and operational expertise – we have positioned ourselves for sustainable growth through market cycles. We are grateful to all of our investors for their confidence in Monolith, including Hayfin and Ares, with whom we are excited to partner on this journey.”

Monolith’s innovative strategy has positioned the Company for long-term growth with a strong balance sheet in the fast-growing U.S. e-commerce sector. The growth capital will enable Monolith to continue to add to its portfolio of brands as well as create enhanced opportunities to cross-sell products to an overlapping and expanding customer base.

Jonathan Shifke, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Monolith said: “Not only have we established a strategy for identifying the right brands and building a high-quality portfolio, but we are also providing resources to brands so they can unlock growth opportunities that were previously unavailable. This is truly a win-win for Monolith and our brand partners who benefit from the strength of our platform and proprietary insights to grow revenue across channels in a targeted and highly effective manner, enhancing Monolith’s value proposition for new brands in the process.”

Chrissy Svejnar, a Managing Director in the Ares Credit Group, said: “Through its disciplined technology-driven approach to building its consumer portfolio, we believe the team at Monolith has positioned the Company as a leader in its sector. We are pleased to provide financing that will support their long-term growth plans.”

Monolith’s senior leadership team has deep and complementary experience across finance, operations and e-commerce. Its Co-Founders Abousleiman and Shifke have invested in and supported a range of businesses across sectors while working at Blackstone. Monolith’s COO Cody Frisby and CTO Dan Bunker bring e-commerce operations and software development experience, respectively. Monolith has built a growing team of approximately 60 people based primarily in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Monolith

Founded in 2020 with offices in New York and Utah, Monolith is a consumer products company with a portfolio of omnichannel brands organized across a focused set of sector verticals, including Pet and Baby & Toddler. The Company seeks to acquire established brands with differentiated products, avid customers, and strong market positions within particular subcategories of its core sector verticals. As part of the Monolith platform, these brands can access the capital, operational resources, and sector expertise necessary to expand their reach. For more information about Monolith, visit www.monolithbrands.com.

About Hayfin Capital Management

Founded in 2009, Hayfin Capital Management (“Hayfin”) is a leading alternative asset management firm with over €26bn billion of assets under management. Hayfin focuses on delivering best-in-class risk-adjusted returns for its investors across its private credit, liquid credit, and private equity solutions businesses.

Hayfin has a diverse international team of over 190 experienced industry professionals with offices globally, including headquarters in London and offices in London, New York, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, San Diego, Singapore, and Tel Aviv. Further information can be found at www.hayfin.com.

About Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, private equity, real estate, and infrastructure asset classes. We seek to provide flexible capital to support businesses and create value for our stakeholders and within our communities. By collaborating across our investment groups, we aim to generate consistent and attractive investment returns throughout market cycles. As of June 30, 2022, Ares Management Corporation's global platform had approximately $334 billion of assets under management, with over 2,300 employees operating across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.aresmgmt.com. Follow Ares on Twitter @Ares_Management.

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