Hearthside Food Solutions, a portfolio company of Wind Point Partners, has reached an agreement to sell its Golden Temple business, a manufacturer of all-natural ready-to-eat cereals and granola, to Post Holdings, parent company of Post Foods.
Hearthside Food Solutions manufactures grain-based food products including cookies, crackers, granola, granola bars, croutons, cereals, popcorn and snack mixes. The company operates 13 food manufacturing facilities in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Oregon, with a workforce in excess of 5,000. Wind Point acquired the Hearthside platform in April 2009 from Roskam Baking Company. Since acquisition, Wind Point has completed three add-on acquisitions, including the purchase of the Golden Temple business in 2010. During Wind Point’s ownership, Hearthside has grown into the largest independent bakery in the US. Hearthside is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove (www.hearthsidefoods.com).
“In addition to providing an attractive return on our investment in Golden Temple, the divestiture will allow Hearthside to focus exclusively on its core business of contract manufacturing,” said Mark Burgett, a managing director at Wind Point.
Post Holdings (NYSE:POST) is the parent company of Post Foods, a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of branded ready-to-eat cereals. The company’s portfolio of brands includes Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Great Grains, Grape-Nuts, Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran, Golden Crisp, Alpha-Bits and Honeycomb. Post’s products are sold to supermarket chains, wholesalers, supercenters, club stores, mass merchandisers, distributors, convenience stores and the foodservice channel in North America. Post was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in St. Louis (www.postfoods.com).
“Golden Temple performed very well over the past three years, and we grew both revenue and EBITDA significantly. Golden Temple products have a strong market position within all-natural cereals, and we think they will be an excellent addition to Post’s product portfolio,” said Rich Scalise, CEO of Hearthside.
Wind Point Partners invests from $20 million to $70 million of equity in companies with revenues from $100 million to $500 million and EBITDAs of at least $8 million. Industries of interest include business services, consumer products, healthcare and industrial products. The firm has approximately $2.5 billion in capital under management and has completed more than 90 investments and 161 add-on acquisitions across its seven private equity funds. Wind Point Partners is based in Chicago (www.wppartners.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-9-13
