CORE Industrial Partners (“CORE”), a Chicago-based private equity firm, today announced it has completed an investment in Arizona Natural Resources (“ANR”, or the “Company”). ANR is a leading provider of full-service custom formulation and contract manufacturing solutions for personal care products with expertise in haircare and skincare. ANR’s development and turnkey manufacturing services include concept & formula development, batching, production, quality assurance, and packaging.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, ANR operates a 132,000 square foot TTB- and FDA-registered cGMP-compliant facility housing 23 production lines. The Company’s equipment is designed to accommodate a wide range of custom formulas and provide consistent, high-quality products in a variety of different batch and order sizes. ANR specializes in assisting emerging brands to accelerate time to market through innovation and seamless collaboration and serves a customer base comprised of some of the most well-known and fastest-growing health and beauty companies across the United States.

George Dembow III, President of ANR, said, “Since our founding in 1972, we have been dedicated to helping our customers take product ideas and turn them into a recognized brand in the market. It has been our primary goal to be at the forefront of our field by following five simple principles: quality, service, value, honesty, and innovation. CORE’s values align with our principles and are an excellent fit for our people and company. We look forward to working with CORE to continue innovating and enhancing our unique offering to our valued customers.”

John May, a Managing Partner of CORE, said, “ANR enjoys a well-deserved reputation for providing best-in-class customer service and the highest-quality end-to-end manufacturing solutions in the health and beauty space. We’re excited to partner with George and the management team to accelerate the company’s growth as a leading personal care contract manufacturing solutions provider with a particular focus on hair and skin care products.”

CORE plans to pursue strategic acquisitions to extend the Company’s product offering and geographic presence.

Frank Papa, a Senior Partner of CORE, said, “CORE had previously identified personal care contract manufacturing as an industry of interest, and we believe ANR represents an ideal platform upon which we’ll work to build a larger organization, in part, through complementary acquisitions.” Mr. Papa will become Chairman of ANR’s Board of Directors.

Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP provided legal representation to CORE in the transaction. Carriage Hill represented ANR in this transaction.