Brynwood Partners of Greenwich, Conn., will buy a controlling stake in Kraft Foods”™ Back to Nature natural food business through a joint venture with Kraft, which will continue to hold a substantial minority stake in the business and have board representation in the joint venture.
Terms and conditions of the transaction, which is scheduled to close in October, were not disclosed.
Back to Nature was founded in 1960 as one of the original natural food brands in the U.S. The company will initially offer its products in four categories: crackers, cookies, trail mixes and nuts and granola. Management of the Back to Nature macaroni and cheese business will remain with Kraft.
Brynwood will appoint Vincent Fantegrossi as president and CEO of the new company. He previously served as president and CEO of Richelieu Foods, another Brynwood investment.
In its 28-year history, Brynwood Partners has acquired 36 corporate brands from 14 different corporate sellers, including the Back to Nature acquisition. Since January 2011, the firm has completed the acquisitions of 20 corporate brands in seven separate transactions. The Back to Nature transaction marks Brynwood Partners”™ third deal with Kraft Foods.
Brynwood Partners has a track record of reviving smaller brands or businesses that large corporations have sold. Some of Brynwood”™s investments, both current and prior, include:
- Zest bar soap and body wash (acquired from Procter & Gamble);
- Turtles chocolate candy and Flipz chocolate covered pretzels (acquired from Nestlé);
- TrueNorth nut-clusters and Kretschmer wheat germ (acquired from PepsiCo); and
- Balance Bar energy and nutrition bars (acquired from Kraft).
Brynwood manages $500 million of private equity capital for its limited partners who include U.S. and international pension funds, fund-of-funds, endowments, high net worth family investment offices and financial institutions.
Separately, Kraft”™s board has approved the spinoff of its North American grocery business. The spinoff will be complete on Oct. 1, at which point each Kraft shareholder will receive one share of Kraft Foods Group for every three shares of Kraft.
