Andy Unanue is the current Managing Partner of AUA Private Equity Partners, an operationally-focused, lower middle-market private equity firm that targets Hispanic-oriented and family-owned companies. Unanue is the former Chief Operating Officer of the family-owned
Goya Foods
Goya Foods, Inc. is an American producer of a brand of foods sold in the United States and many Spanish-speaking countries. It has facilities in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Spain. It is under third-generation ownersh ...
, the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States.
In 2008, he flirted with candidacy for the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, the grandson of
Goya Foods
Goya Foods, Inc. is an American producer of a brand of foods sold in the United States and many Spanish-speaking countries. It has facilities in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Spain. It is under third-generation ownersh ...
' founders, Spaniards Prudencio Unanue Ortiz and Carolina Casal, and son of
Joseph A. Unanue
Joseph Andrew Unanue (March 14, 1925 – June 12, 2013) was a New York-born son of Spanish parents who was the president of Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic–owned food company in the United States.
After a Catholic upbringing and education i ...
. He attended St. Joseph School in
Bogota, New Jersey
Bogota is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 8,187,Alpine Public School and
Bergen Catholic High School
Bergen Catholic High School is an all-male Roman Catholic high school in Oradell, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Coll ...
.
Unanue received a bachelor's degree from the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
and an MBA from
Thunderbird
Thunderbird, thunder bird or thunderbirds may refer to:
* Thunderbird (mythology), a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture
* Ford Thunderbird, a car
Birds
* Dromornithidae, extinct flightless birds k ...
, the American Graduate School of International Management.Business Wire, July 18th, 2000 He began working in his father's company in their Miami office, working his way up to President of Goya de Santo Domingo. After his brother Joseph F. Unanue died of myelodysplastic syndrome in 1998, he became Executive Vice President. Unanue became Goya's COO in 1999.
In February 2004, Unanue left Goya to establish a family office. Through his family office AU & Associates, LLC, he has made investments in companies such as Opt-Intelligence, Inc., BigFish Games, Inc. and eSchoolData, LLC. He was also a former Operating Executive of Palladium Equity Partners.
In August 2007, Unanue formed Trufoods LLC, which now owns the franchises Wall Street Deli, Arthur Treacher's
Fish & Chips, Ritter's Frozen Custard, and Pudgie's Famous Chicken.
In October 2010, he married Marie O'Mara in Mayakoba, Mexico.
Candidacy for United States Senate
In 2008, Unanue was briefly a Republican primary candidate to face incumbent
Frank Lautenberg
Frank Raleigh Lautenberg (; January 23, 1924 June 3, 2013) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as United States Senator from New Jersey from 1982 to 2001, and again from 2003 until his death in 2013. He was orig ...
in that year's U.S. Senate election. Unanue announced his candidacy after the withdrawal of moderate Republican
Anne Evans Estabrook
Anne Evans Estabrook is an American real estate developer who was the frontrunner in the Republican primary for the 2008 United States Senate race in New Jersey before suffering a mini-stroke and withdrawing from the race.
Estabrook attended Corn ...
, who was initially the New Jersey GOP establishment's choice but quit the race due to a mini-stroke. Unanue was reportedly considering dropping out of the Senate race to make way for
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...
biotechnology executive John Crowley, but after Crowley signaled that he would not run, Unanue announced that he had filed petitions for the race on April 7, 2008. However, on April 11, Unanue dropped out of the race, and his committee on vacancies designated former
Congressman
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
Dick Zimmer
Richard Alan Zimmer (born August 16, 1944) is an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and in the United States House of Representatives. He was the Republican nominee for ...
to enter the race under the Unanue petitions.
AUA Private Equity Partners
In April 2012, Unanue officially announced the formation of AUA Private Equity Partners by partnering with the former principals of Gotham Private Equity Partners, L.P., who integrated their operations into AUA Equity. Unanue and Gotham had been working together for over 3 years. AUA Private Equity Partners is an operationally-focused, lower middle-market private equity firm. The firm invests primarily in companies in the consumer, media and business services sectors, with a particular focus on Hispanic-oriented companies and family-owned businesses located in the United States."AUA Private Equity Partners" /ref> AUA Private Equity Partners currently manages five portfolio companies, including Two-Twenty Records Management, LLC, a records information management business and Brighter Dental Solutions LLC, a regional dental practice management company.