New Water Capital acquires lid manufacturer LidWorks; Carlyle, Clearlake among PE firms targeting cybersecurity firms

New Water Capital has acquired food and beverage lid maker LidWorks. PE Hub was first to reveal the acquisition, and spoke with Nicholas LaRosa, vice-president at New Water, to learn more about the deal.

Based in Plant City, Florida, LidWorks is a family-owned designer and manufacturer of custom food and beverage lids. Founded in 1985, LidWorks supplies quick service restaurants (QSRs), fast-casual restaurants, convenience store chains, and manufacturers and distributors in the food service industry. The company counts Burger King, 7 Eleven, and Jamba Juice among its customers.

LidWorks operates a facility in Plant City, where it manufactures over two billion lids per year.

> "What LidWorks has done over the last 40 years is build a flexible, unique production model where they can provide customized lids for different customers at very competitive prices,” LaRosa said. “That’s a unique differentiator."

LidWorks has experienced double-digit revenue growth over the last three years. To continue that upward trajectory, New Water plans to make add-ons.

> "We’re going to focus on any other businesses that are custom packaging,” LaRosa shared. “It includes lids like we do today, but it will expand the company into other plastic packaging as well."

Other priorities for the growth strategy include finding a second production facility that’s either in the Northeast or on the West Coast, and pursuing smaller and emerging QSRs who are grabbing market share from more established chains.

> "We will be looking to bring on more salespeople and investing in capacity to do that,” LaRosa said. “But that segment of the market is going to be our major organic focus. To the company’s credit, that’s what they’ve been doing, and they’ve been growing above market already."

The increase of AI’s role in software and technology, and a rise in AI cyber threats, is driving private equity’s interest in the sector. PE Hub has seen several deals involving cybersecurity firms recently:

• In July, Carlyle acquired Secturion Systems. Based in Centerville, Utah, Secturion is a provider of hardware encryption solutions that protect sensitive and classified information.
• In another July deal, Agellus Capital-backed CompassMSP acquired The Logic Group, a Philadelphia-based managed IT and cybersecurity firm.
• In June, Clearlake Capital Group-backed Quest Software acquired Anetac. Based in Los Altos, California, Anetac is a provider of AI-powered identity security for human, non-human, and agentic identities.
• Avance Investment Management-backed Alchemy Technology Group acquired IOvations, a Burlington, Massachusetts-based cybersecurity solution provider in April.

In July, PE Hub was first to report that Coalesce Capital was acquiring Workstreet, a provider of compliance and cybersecurity services to companies in regulated industries.

> "Cybersecurity remains one of the healthier sectors for technology dealmaking exactly because it’s the combination of the secular demand and the regulatory complexity,” Stephanie Geveda, founder and managing partner at Coalesce Capital, told me at the time. “AI is opening up a whole new set of security needs for companies and it’s still a very fragmented vendor landscape."

The National Football League’s owners unanimously approved the Khosla family’s acquisition of the Seattle Seahawks earlier in August. The transaction valued the Seahawks at around $9.6 billion, according to ESPN.

Late last week, some of the PE firms joining as minority stake investors in the team were announced. Carlyle and Dynasty Equity completed minority investments in the Seahawks, backing the Khosla family’s purchase of the NFL franchise. Sixth Street also announced a minority investment in the Seahawks.

All the investments received league approval at a Special League Meeting on August 26.

> "The franchise has cultivated one of the most dedicated fan bases in the NFL and a brand that resonates deeply, well beyond the Pacific Northwest,” Don Cornwell, co-founder and CEO of Dynasty Equity, said in a statement.

PE Hub has been tracking pro sports team deals throughout the year. In August, recent sports deals, including the Seahawks acquisition, were highlighted.