Universal Pure, a portfolio company of Aurora Capital Partners, has acquired the high-pressure processing (HPP) assets of Dora’s Naturals.
Aurora acquired Universal Pure, an outsourced provider of high-pressure processing, food safety, and supply chain services for the food industry, in November 2022.
High-pressure processing (HPP) utilizes water and pressure to inactivate food-borne pathogens without chemicals or other additives, ensuring the safety and shelf life of food and beverage products while preserving their nutritional value, taste, and texture.
With this acquisition, Universal Pure now operates 22 HPP machines across seven locations—spanning a combined 1.1 million square feet—in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The company’s facilities are strategically positioned within a truck-day of all major food production hubs in the United States.
The acquisition of Dora’s HPP assets is the second acquisition closed by Universal Pure under Aurora ownership. The first buy was the purchase of the HPP assets of Katy, Texas-based Texas Food Solutions in April 2023.
“We are very excited to welcome and continue the tradition of high-quality service to Dora’s HPP customers. We are also eager to enhance our HPP capacity within the Northeast region of the United States,” said Frank Jimenez, the CEO of Universal Pure.
According to Lincoln, Nebraska-based Universal Pure, it is the largest independent provider of HPP services in North America. In addition to HPP services, Universal Pure offers refrigerated and frozen storage, beverage bottling, kitting and assembly, tempering, and other critical cold chain services.
Privately held Dora’s Naturals, founded in 1999 and headquartered near New York City in South Hackensack, New Jersey, specializes in natural, organic, and specialty food and beverage distribution, third-party logistics, and HPP services. Dora’s serves more than 4,000 traditional supermarkets, natural food stores, drug stores, independent specialty retailers, and on-premise/food-service locations across the Northeastern United States, from Virginia to New Hampshire.
With the sale of its HPP business to Universal Pure, Dora’s will now focus on its core distribution operations while entrusting its former HPP customers to Universal Pure.
“While exiting the HPP business is bittersweet, this transaction allows us to further focus our energies and resources on our core distribution business,” said Cyrus Schwartz, CEO of Dora’s. “We are confident that Universal Pure will continue to provide excellent service to all our customers.”
Aurora Capital makes control investments of $50 million to $300 million in industrial, manufacturing, and service-oriented businesses valued between $100 million and $500 million. The firm focuses on sectors including industrial services and distribution, engineered products, and technology-enabled services. Aurora Capital was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Los Angeles.
© 2025 Private Equity Professional | February 28, 2025
