Baking&Snack - June 2014 - 16

Buying spree hits baking, snack industries

Even industry veterans will need a score card to
keep up with all the merger and acquisition activity taking place in the baking and snack industries. The past few weeks have been busy indeed.
April opened with news that Sankaty
Advisors, an affiliate of Bain Capital
LLC, made a strategic investment in
Manischewitz, the largest matzah baker
in the world. No financial details were
offered. The Newark, NJ-based company
named FTI Consulting's turn-around specialist Mark Weinstein as interim CEO.
Hillshire Brands Co., Chicago, bought
Van's Natural Foods, Vernon, CA, from private equity firm Catterton Partners for $165
million, extending the new owner's reach
into cereal and snack categories, including a
gluten-free portfolio.
Then, in May, Hillshire bid $6.6 billion
for Pinnacle Foods Group, Parsippany, NJ.
Pinnacle's product line includes Lender's bagels and Duncan Hines bakery mixes.
Bakeries continued to change hands with
the late April announcement that Hain
Celestial Group, Lake Success, NY, added
Rudi's Organic Bakery, Boulder, CO, to its
portfolio of organic, gluten-free and natural
brands. Hain paid $61.3 million to Rudi's

owner Charterhouse Equity Parthers. John
Carroll, Hain's CEO predicted, "We believe
Rudi's Organic Bakery will be Hain Celestial's
next $100 million brand."
Bella Four Bakery, Reno, NV, ponied up
$4 million to buy the assets of Theodoro
Bakery Co., Hazelwood, MO. These include
a 117,000-sq-ft baking facility and will allow
doubling output of the company's Nature's
Bakery brand.
May opened with a bang - the news that
Weston Foods, the Toronto subsidiary of
George Weston Ltd., completed purchase
of Rubschlager Baking Corp., Chicago.
"Rubschlager will bring world-class, authentic
rye products and capabilities to complement
Weston's broad portfolio of bakery products,"
said Kevin McDonough, president of Weston
Foods' Frozen Division.
A day later, San Antonio-based C.H.
Guenther & Son moved deeper into baking
by adding Tribeca Oven, Inc., Carlstadt, NJ,
a leader in artisan bread and rolls. Financial
terms were not disclosed.
And in late May, Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV,
Mexico City, increased its lead as the No. 1 baker in the Americas when it completed acquisition of Canada Bread from Maple Leaf Foods.

More M&A activity in milling industry

New names and new affiliations reveal the broad
reshaping of US flour milling as ownership
changes pave the way for creation of the largest
US milling company yet. They also rearrange the
industry's pecking order.
With the acquisition of Cereal Food
Processors, Inc. by Milner Milling Co. and
Pendleton Flour Mills, the new business
took Grain Craft as its new name in May.
Headquartered in Chattanooga, TN, with
supporting offices at Mission Woods, KS, the
combined privately held company will operate 16 mills in 11 states, becoming the nation's third largest miller.
Creation of Ardent Mills moved forward
in May. Announced more than a year ago,
it combined ConAgra Mills and Horizon
Milling, a joint venture of Cargill and CHS.
The new joint venture company, headquartered
16 Baking & Snack June 2014 / www.bakingandsnack.com

at Denver, comprises one specialty bakery,
three bakery mix units and 44 mills, making
it the biggest US miller. On May 20, the US
Department of Justice allowed the merger to go
through, requiring the companies to divest four
of their mills. ConAgra Foods and Cargill each
have a 44% stake in Ardent, with CHS owing
12% interest.
Earlier this year, the Ardent partner companies agreed to divest four mills, located at Los
Angeles; Oakland, CA; Saginaw, TX; and New
Prague, MN. A few weeks later, Miller Milling
Co., Bloomington, MN, the US subsidiary
of Nisshin Flour Milling, stepped forward to
buy the mills for $215 million. Nisshin, based
in Tokyo, is Japan's leading flour miller. It acquired Miller Milling in 2012 and has owned
the Canadian miller Rogers Foods Ltd.,
Armstrong, BC, since 1989.

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Baking&Snack - June 2014

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