Freiberger USA Inc., Morris Plains, a 100 %-owned subsidiary of Südzucker Group, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Richelieu Foods Inc., Braintree/Massachusetts, the largest producer of private label frozen pizza and deli pizza for food retailing in the USA, from Centerview Capital. The enterprise value is USD 435 million.
Richelieu produces private label frozen pizza and deli pizza as well as sauces and dressings for retail grocery and foodservice customers across the USA. The company has nearly 900 employees across its locations. Richelieu competes in the world’s largest pizza market, which continues to exhibit solid growth. In its 2016 fiscal year, Richelieu generated revenues of USD 325 million. The acquisition is subject to approval by the USA antitrust authorities and is expected to close by year end.
About Richelieu
Richelieu is a leading producer of private label frozen pizza and deli pizza as well as sauces and dressings for food retailing in the USA. The company’s nearly 900 employees at five USA production sites produce approximately 105 million pizzas and nearly 9 million cases of pourable products for the USA market annually. Richelieu is the leader in the USA private label frozen pizza and deli pizza category.
About Freiberger Group
Freiberger Group is a producer of frozen and chilled pizza as well as pasta dishes and snacks with clear focus on private label. About 2,600 employees produce at six European sites nearly 3 million pizzas daily. Thereby Freiberger Group takes a leading position amongst the European producers and is part of the Südzucker Group. About the Südzucker Group Südzucker, with its sugar, special products, CropEnergies and fruit segments, is one of the leading companies in the food industry. In the traditional sugar business, the group is the world market leader, with 29 sugar factories and two refineries, extending from France in the west via Belgium, Germany and Austria, through to Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bosnia and Moldova in the east. The special products segment, consisting of the functional ingredients for food and animal feed (BENEO), chilled/frozen products (Freiberger), portion packs (PortionPack Europe) and starch divisions, is an important growth driver. The CropEnergies segment covers the bioethanol activities in Germany, Belgium, France and the UK. In the fruit segment, the group operates internationally, is the world market leader for fruit preparations and is a leading supplier of fruit juice concentrates in Europe. In 2016/17, the group employed about 16,900 persons and generated revenues of EUR 6.5 billion.
Source: Freiberger Group