United Natural Foods has entered into an agreement to acquire Trudeau Foods, a portfolio company of Arbor Investments.
Trudeau Foods is the largest Minnesota-based distributor of natural, organic and specialty food products. Trudeau Foods serves over 600 customer locations, including chain and independent grocers, wholesalers and meat markets in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Trudeau Foods carries a full range of specialty gourmet meats, frozen foods, dairy, bakery, deli, seafood and dry grocery items under national, regional and private label brands. The company is based in Burnsville, MN (near Minneapolis) (www.trudeaudistributing.com).
“This acquisition is the latest step in our strategy to grow our market share and deliver a complete basket of specialty, natural and organic products to our customers,” said Steve Spinner, UNFI’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are excited to welcome Trudeau Foods to our organization. Both companies have a tremendous history of commitment to servicing their customers, and we are enthusiastic about the growth prospects for this market.”
United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI) carries and distributes more than 65,000 products to more than 27,000 customer locations throughout the United States and Canada. The company serves a variety of retail formats including conventional supermarket chains, natural product superstores, independent retail operators and the food service channel. The company is based in Providence, RI (www.unfi.com).
Arbor invests in the food, beverage and related industries. The firm has acquired or invested in over 32 food and beverage companies in North America and currently has $600 million of assets under management across three funds. Arbor was founded in 1999 and is based in Chicago (www.arborpic.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 9-27-13
