Private equity firm acquires De Wafelbakkers breakfast food company

Greenwich private equity firm Brynwood Partners VIII LP has acquired the breakfast food company De Wafelbakkers. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

De WafelbakkersDe Wafelbakkers is headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and is best known for its lines of branded, co-manufactured and private label frozen pancakes, waffles and French toast sold in U.S. grocery retail stores.

The company has a 650-workforce spread across the 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in its headquarters city and a 98,000-square-foot facility in McDonough, Georgia.

The company was acquired from The Oklahoma Publishing Co., a subsidiary of the Anschutz Corp. The acquisition expands Brynwood”™s holdings in the food and beverage space with a portfolio that includes Harvest Hill Beverage Co., Carolina Beverage Group, Hometown Food Co., Buitoni Food Co. and Great Kitchens Food Co.

“Brynwood already has a presence in the breakfast category through its dry mix offerings with its Hungry Jack and Arrowhead Mills brands, owned by Brynwood portfolio company Hometown Food Co.,” said Henk Hartong III, chairman and CEO of Brynwood Partners.

“We also have extensive experience in the frozen manufacturing space and believe that we can partner with the management team to accelerate performance in the De Wafelbakkers business. The frozen pancake, waffle and French toast market is a growing space and we are excited to be invested in the category with such a significant manufacturing player.”