Brynwood Partners has formed West Madison Foods and has agreed to acquire the Marie’s salad dressing brand and the Dean’s Dip business from Ventura Foods. Ventura acquired the Marie’s dressings and Dean’s dips businesses from Dean Foods in 2005 for $198 million.
Brynwood’s investment in West Madison Foods was made through its ninth fund, Brynwood Partners IX LP. The acquisition of Marie’s salad dressing and Dean’s Dip includes a manufacturing facility in Thornton, Illinois (30 miles south of Chicago) where the company’s products – Blue Cheese, Caesar, Ranch and Coleslaw dressings, and French Onion, Ranch and Guacamole dips and spreads – are manufactured.
West Madison Foods is headquartered in Chicago and now has approximately 84 full-time employees.
“Dean’s and Marie’s are extraordinary brands, and we are delighted to lead these brands into their next phase of growth and expansion,” said Henk Hartong III, the chairman and CEO of Brynwood. “We look forward to partnering with the team in Thornton to enhance manufacturing and bring more products and new innovations to market. We thank the Ventura Foods team for being a great partner in the transaction.”
“The acquisition of West Madison Foods represents another corporate carveout for Brynwood, an area where we have developed a specific investment expertise,” added Mr. Hartong. “We have completed three carveouts in the last seven months starting with Birch Benders in December 2022, followed by Uno Foods in March 2023 and now the Dean’s Dip and Marie’s businesses.”
The Brynwood investment portfolio also includes Harvest Hill Beverage Company, Carolina Beverage Group, Hometown Food Company, Buitoni Food Company and Great Kitchens Food Company. With the addition of West Madison Foods, the total Brynwood manufacturing network will total 17 facilities, approximately 4,700 employees and more than $2.6 billion in annual sales.
Greenwich, Connecticut-based Brynwood is an operationally focused firm that makes control investments in North American-based lower middle-market companies. The firm targets non-core brands or companies operating exclusively in the consumer sector.
Ventura Foods , the seller of Dean’s and Marie’s, is a producer of branded and private label dressings, sauces, mayonnaises, shortenings, and oils that are sold to foodservice companies, restaurants, and retailers in over 70 countries. Ventura Foods was formed in 1996 and is a privately held joint venture of CHS, a publicly traded agricultural cooperative, and Mitsui & Co. The company has $4 billion in annual revenue with manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Philippines.
BofA Securities was the advisor to Ventura Foods on this transaction.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | July 25, 2023
