Brynwood Partners has formed Buitoni Food Company to acquire the North American Buitoni business from Nestlé at an enterprise value of $115 million.
Buitoni is a national brand in the refrigerated pasta, sauces, and cheese categories. The buy of Buitoni includes the rights to the Buitoni brand in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean as well as a 240,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Danville, Virginia.
Buitoni was founded in 1827 by Giulia and Giovan Battista Buitoni in Sansepolcro, Italy. In 1985, the Buitoni family sold the company to Italian investor Carlo De Benedetti and in 1988, it was acquired by Nestlé. In 2017, Nestlé licensed a variety of Buitoni frozen ready meals to German food-maker Frosta AG.
“We are delighted to announce the formation of Buitoni Food Company,” said Henk Hartong III, chairman and CEO of Brynwood. “We are thrilled to add the famous Buitoni brand, and its delicious pastas, sauces and cheeses to our investment portfolio. Buitoni has a rich history and Italian heritage that has delighted consumers for over 100 years. The Danville facility will enable us to quickly invest in new culinary and eating trends so that we can build on the strong foundation of current Buitoni offerings. We look forward to innovating and growing the Buitoni brand as more consumers seek out high quality meals that can be easily prepared at home.”
Post-closing, Buitoni will be headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The company will continue to manufacture Nestlé Toll House cookie dough products from the Danville facility under a long-term supply agreement.
“On behalf of everyone at Brynwood Partners, I would like to sincerely thank the Nestlé team for working with us on another corporate carve out. This marks the eighth transaction we have completed with Nestlé, and we look forward to continuing our relationship,” said Ian MacTaggart, president, CFO and COO of Brynwood.
The eight earlier buys from Nestle were Flipz (2007), DeMet’s Turtles (2007), Treasures (2007), Stixx (2008), Juicy Juice (2014), Bit-O-Honey (2013), Joseph’s Gourmet Pasta (2014), and Nutrament (2016).
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. Since its founding in 1984, Brynwood has acquired more than 55 brands from 20 different corporate sellers.
The buy of Buitoni was made through Brynwood Partners VIII LP which closed in January 2018 with $649 million of committed capital.
Holland & Knight provided legal services to Brynwood on this transaction.
Private Equity Professional | June 11, 2020