Rich Products Corp. has acquired Great Kitchens Food Co. from Brynwood Partners VIII, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based private equity firm, in a transaction that recently closed. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Great Kitchens manufactures pizzas, flatbreads, strombolis and calzones sold to grocery, club and mass retailers, as well as foodservice outlets nationwide.
Brynwood VIII formed Great Kitchens in December 2020 to acquire ARYZTA North America’s take-and-bake pizza and flatbread business in a corporate carveout transaction.
In February 2023, Great Kitchens acquired the Uno Foods Division of Uno Restaurant Holdings Corp., gaining Pizzeria Uno Chicago deep-dish pizza, stromboli and calzone brands.
“We are pleased to announce the divestiture of Great Kitchens Food Company to Rich’s and are grateful to all the employees for their dedication to the business,” said Henk Hartong, chairman and CEO of Brynwood Partners.
“Our employees and management team in our three factories worked tirelessly to grow and improve the Great Kitchens business during our ownership period. We are excited that a world class company like Rich’s will continue to build this incredible business.”
Great Kitchens operates three manufacturing facilities: a 165,000-square-foot crust plant in Chicago Heights, Illinois; a 155,000-square-foot toppings site in Romeoville, Illinois; and a 35,000-square-foot location in Brockton, Massachusetts, where Uno frozen products are manufactured.
The company employs about 1,200 people across its network, which is headquartered in Romeoville.
“The Great Kitchens sale culminates a series of Brynwood Partners transactions during a nine-month period that is unprecedented in our Firm’s history,” Hartong said.
“We are incredibly proud of these results and grateful to our team and our limited partners for their hard work and collaboration.”
Brynwood Partners is investing from Brynwood IX, a $750 million private equity fund established in 2023.
After the Great Kitchens divestiture, the firm’s investment portfolio will consist of Carolina Beverage Group, Hometown Food Company, West Madison Foods and Miracapo Pizza Company.
Brynwood Partners’ portfolio companies have combined annual sales exceeding $2.5 billion, employ more than 3,300 people and manufacture products at 11 facilities.
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