Audacity IB Advises on the Sale of One of North America’s Largest Premium Importers of Fresh Seafood, Lee Fish USA

LOS ANGELES, March 8, 2023

Audacity IB, an emerging financial advisory and transaction consulting firm focused on founder-owned business transformations and exits, announced today that its client, Lee Fish USA (the “Company”), has been acquired as a platform investment by private equity firm Sole Source Capital with offices in Dallas, Texas and Santa Monica, California.

Audacity IB served as exclusive sell-side financial advisor to the Company in connection with the transaction. The transaction was led by Jeffrey Shippy, Founder and CEO of Audacity IB. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP served as legal counsel to the Company, and White & Case LLP served as legal counsel to Sole Source Capital.

Based in El Segundo, California, Lee Fish is North America’s largest importer of fresh seafood from Australasia, as well as one of North America’s largest premium importers of fresh seafood. ?

Lee Fish imports and distributes 220 species of fresh and frozen seafood (wild-caught and farm-raised), providing nearly seven million pounds of fresh seafood per year to major food retailers, as well as specialty retailers and restaurants, and through foodservice wholesalers. ?Lee Fish is highly regarded across North America for its unmatched product quality and consistency, and exceptional sourcing and logistics capabilities.

“We are very proud of our client and believe that Sole Source Capital is the ideal partner for Lee Fish. Audacity IB is honored to have been selected to represent the Company and given the opportunity to demonstrate our passion and expertise in delivering great sell-side M&A transaction outcomes on behalf of our clients.?It was a great pleasure working with all parties involved, and we are excited for Lee Fish as it begins its next phase of growth, as a Sole Source Capital portfolio company.” said Mr. Shippy.

“Simply put, the deal team did an incredible job for us from start to finish and we are very thankful that we selected Audacity IB to lead this fast-paced and highly complex transaction.?We were very impressed with their aggressiveness, creativity, and ability to run a process and close a transaction in less than five months from start…while delivering an outcome and strategic partnership that significantly exceeded our expectations.” said Richard Adlem, Founder and President/CEO of Lee Fish.

“This is a great example of a true collaborative legal and financial deal team effort.” said Sheppard Mullin partner Aytan Dahukey, who leads the firm’s private equity team.?“We were fortunate enough to work with Audacity IB, which was committed to getting the best overall outcome and working tirelessly to run a full competitive auction. ?As a team, Sheppard Mullin and Audacity moved through the deal process in an extremely efficient and effective manner in the best interest of our shared client.”

ABOUT AUDACITY IB:

Founded in 2020, Audacity IB helps transform and develop founder-owned companies and ready them for potential future exits. When the time comes for an exit, Audacity IB also serves as exclusive M&A broker to drive a successful transaction outcome. The firm also provides hands-on daily operations leadership in top executive roles with select clients.