Arbor Investments, Chicago, has completed the sale of its Fund II portfolio company, Gold Standard Baking, to Tricor Pacific Capital Inc., Lake Forest, IL. Based in Chicago, Gold Standard manufactures frozen laminated dough products sold through grocery retailers, foodservice distributors, quick-serve restaurant chains, commissaries and convenience stores throughout North America. Terms of the sale were not disclosed

Gold Standard’s roots start in 2001, when Yianny and George Caparos acquired the small bakery from East Balt Commissary and grew the business into a strong regional bakery. In 2008, Arbor Investments acquired a controlling interest in Gold Standard and invested $40 million in equipment and facilities that transformed the company into the largest manufacturer of high-quality specialty croissants and strip Danish products in the United States.

“Yianny and George Caparos were extraordinary partners,” says Joseph Campolo, Arbor’s president and co-founder. “The Arbor and Gold Standard teams worked closely during our partnership and significantly expanded production capacity and product capability. The Caparos brothers executed our strategic vision flawlessly. We were very fortunate to work with entrepreneurs of such high integrity, unmatched baking expertise and superior management skill. Incredibly, during our eight-year ownership, Gold Standard Baking quadrupled in size and Fund II, inclusive of cash proceeds received in connection with two dividend recaps during our ownership period, realized a 9.4x gross return on its investment.”

President and CEO Yianny Caparos adds, “Arbor has been an inestimable partner during Gold Standard’s period of tremendous growth providing the company with needed capital, human resources and strategic direction. Without the symbiotic Arbor relationship, Gold Standard would not be the success it is today.”