Rise Run Capital Acquires House of Outdoors, the Holding Company for Googan Baits, Fish Media and Made By Influence

Rise Run Capital LLC (“Rise Run”) announced its acquisition of House of Outdoors (“HOO”) on December 31, 2020. Based in Frisco, Texas, HOO is the holding company for Googan Baits and Fish Media (“Googan”), the fastest growing hard and soft fishing bait brand in the country, and Made By Influence (“MBI”), a leader in branding and merchandise manufacturing support for outdoor and lifestyle focused influencers and media personalities.

Making high-quality and well-designed soft baits since 2018, the Googan brand has reached a wider depth of consumers than its competitors. Using groundbreaking video content and digital marketing, the brand reaches over 8 million subscribers on YouTube through leading fishing influencers that make up the “Googan Squad.”

“Googan and MBI are companies which exemplify Rise Run’s portfolio company characteristics including an incredibly strong management team, outstanding financial performance and growth, and an industry leading brand in a category we are very excited about,” said Corbin Cook, Rise Run Co-Founding Partner. “They’ve maintained strong branding and marketing strategies that differentiate Googan from the industry. We’re excited to facilitate collaboration with management and continue to help the company grow.”

As part of the transaction, the leaders at Googan will maintain meaningful leadership positions at the company. Matt Kendrick, CEO of HOO, will lead the holding company and Winston Tucker, CEO of Googan Baits, will run the fishing products and innovation at Googan. Under the terms of the agreement, Rise Run will acquire 100 percent of the three companies.

“We look forward to partnering with the amazing management team and founders to continue to deliver outstanding fishing products and media content to all of our loyal customers and fans.  I am grateful Rise Run can be a part of this remarkable story,” said Alex Swanston, Rise Run Co-Founding Partner.

The transaction closed with debt financing provided by CrossFirst Bank. Legal counsel was provided by a Spencer Fane LLP team led by Brian Memory and Aaron Pawlitz in coordination with the firm’s corporate group in Plano, Texas.

About Googan

Googan Baits designs, develops, markets, and distributes fishing baits and other fishing-related products marketed under the Googan Baits and Googan Squad brands. Founded in 2018 with an innovative marketing strategy, Googan Baits can be found in all major outdoor retailers in the United States and is the fastest growing brand in the soft plastic and hard bait categories. Googan Baits’ superior design and functionality appeal to anglers of all skill levels.

About Made By Influence

Made By Influence is a full-service provider of e-commerce, product design, printing, and fulfillment solutions that help social media influencers and lifestyle brands capitalize on merchandising and apparel demand from their followers.

About Rise Run Capital

Rise Run Capital is a Dallas-based private equity firm which invests capital in middle market companies with EBITDA of $2 to $15 million, strong management teams, attractive and defensible market positions and minimal customer and supplier concentrations.  Rise Run focuses on consumer products manufacturing, healthcare, and service companies.  Rise Run partners pride themselves on being collaborative team members along with founders and current management teams.

This communication is for informational purposes and is not intended to be, nor should it be construed or used as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of any offer to buy shares or limited partnership interests in any investments managed by Rise Run Capital.

Corbin Cook
Rise Run Capital LLC
214-883-6010
ccook@riseruncapital.com