Rise Baking Company has new US owners in the form of Platinum Equity and Butterfly Equity.
In a joint, equally-split transaction, the pair of investors have snapped up the Minneapolis-based company from Olympus Partners, which invested in the business in 2018.
The financial terms for the deal, which is expected to close in the final quarter of the year, were not disclosed.
Set up in 2013, Rise Baking has initiated ten acquisitions since its founding, according to a statement from the two new investors. The latest was Table Talk Pies in Worcester, Massachusetts, a purchase revealed in June.
The business supplies retail and foodservice customers in the US and Canada with products ranging from cookies, pies and cakes to snack bars and muffins.
Its brands include Brill, South Coast Baking, the Best Maid Cookie Company, Henry & Henry, New French Bakery, Bakestone Brothers and Karp’s.
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CEO Brian Zellmer and the rest of the management team and staff will remain in place after the transaction.
“We have built this company into one of the leading bakery platforms in North America thanks to the contributions of our incredible team over the years,” Zellmer said. “We welcome the opportunity to partner with Platinum Equity and Butterfly as we continue to grow Rise Baking Company to serve our customers as their total bakery partner.”
According to a separate statement from Olympus Partners, Rise Baking has almost 4,000 employees spread across 20 manufacturing facilities in North America.
Three additional sites were acquired in the deal for Table Talk Pies, along with 300 staff. The transaction price was also not revealed at the time.
“Working with Brian Zellmer and the entire management team to help grow Rise into the premium in-store bakery platform in North America has been an amazing experience,” Mike Horgan, a partner at Olympus, said.
“Rise Baking Company is extremely well positioned for the future, and we look forward to watching Rise achieve even greater success.”
The new investors indicated more M&A is on the cards for Rise Baking, building on deals for the likes of Brill and Wonder Brands Pies.
Jacob Kotzubei, the joint president of Platinum Equity, said: “We view Rise as an established leader with impressive scale and a strong foundation with a lot more room to grow both organically and through additional M&A.”
Adam Waglay, a co-founder of Butterfly, added: “We are honoured to partner with Brian and the full Rise team to support their expansion by turbo-charging growth, both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”
