Ronin completes minority secondary after Due North sale to AeriTek
Due North’s September sale to AeriTek Global moved into its next phase as Ronin Equity Partners completed a General Partner-led minority secondary investment in AeriTek.
Ronin said the transaction, priced at $3.11 per share, places an undisclosed minority stake in AeriTek into a continuation vehicle backed by new investors, while providing liquidity for existing Due North investors. Ronin said it also invested its own capital in the continuation vehicle.
“It’s more complicated than the typical GP-led secondary deal, but with two stages we could immediately crystallize value for existing investors, in under five years, boosting time-weighted annualized returns while preserving a minority stake for new investors in a highly promising company,” said David Feierstein, co-founder and managing partner of Ronin, in a statement.
Kennesaw, Ga.-based AeriTek manufactures and distributes refrigerated display cases. The company was formed in 2024 after Mill Point Capital carved out refrigerated display brands Imbera and Torrey from FEMSA, the Mexico-based beverage company. Mill Point Capital remains AeriTek’s majority owner.
Ronin acquired and built Due North in 2021 through the simultaneous acquisitions of refrigerated display case brands QBD and Minus Forty. Ronin sold Due North to AeriTek in September 2024 as part of a two-stage approach that Ronin said was designed to improve time-weighted returns for existing investors while keeping exposure to the combined platform’s growth.
Ronin said the expanded AeriTek platform is positioned to benefit from recurring demand tied to replacement equipment, parts and service — a dynamic that matters to convenience services operators managing cold merchandising reliability, uptime and refresh cycles.
Soon after the continuation vehicle closed, AeriTek announced an add-on acquisition of Federal Industries LLC, a carve-out from Standex International Corp., on March 9. Federal Industries manufactures refrigerated, heated and ambient food and beverage merchandising display cases for U.S. foodservice end markets.
