Liberty Ridge Advisors Announces the Sale of Rite Stuff Foods, Inc.
SEATTLE, WA – Liberty Ridge Advisors, LLC announced today that frostkrone Tiefkühlkost GmbH (“frostkrone“), a portfolio company of private equity firm EMERAM Capital Partners (“EMERAM“) and one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of frozen convenience food, has acquired the American company Rite Stuff Foods, Inc. (“Rite Stuff Foods“), which specializes in the production of potato snacks. Liberty Ridge Advisors acted as the exclusive advisor to Rite Stuff Foods.
frostkrone is specialized in manufacturing and distributing deep-frozen finger food & snack products and distributes its products in the food retail trade as well as in the foodservice sector and online. The frostkrone group operates several modern production facilities in Germany and France. Since its foundation in 1997, the company has established itself as an innovative market developer for convenient frozen food products.
Since the beginning of 2017, frostkrone has been a portfolio company of the private equity firm EMERAM, which has since supported the company in the consistent implementation of its growth strategy and international expansion. In 2018, the French companies Piz'wich and Varenne Gastronomie were acquired.
Rite Stuff Foods was founded in 1989 by Thomas J. Madden and is today one of the most important U.S. producers of potato specialties with more than 230 employees. The company is headquartered in Jerome, Idaho, and serves the food retail industry, the foodservice sector and various restaurants. Currently, Rite Stuff produces nearly 100 SKUs in 9 different product categories. As the leading specialty potato product manufacturer in the United States, Rite Stuff Foods offers an ever-growing wide range of tasty side dishes and alternatives that include twice-baked potatoes, potato skins, potato boats, battered and breaded wedges, fried and filled skins, breakfast bites, potato rollers, extruded products, grilling potatoes, potato products that include bacon, chicken and pork and a whole new line of items between R&D and Production.
Tom Madden, President of Rite Stuff Foods, said “we are excited about this opportunity to become part of the Frostkrone family. We believe that this acquisition strengthens both companies and will allow Rite Stuff Foods to continue to offer its quality products; while always positioning the combined entities for further growth into new and existing markets”.
Frédéric Dervieux, CEO of frostkrone, said: “We have been exporting our products to the U.S. since 2017 so that this is a natural development for us. By acquiring Rite Stuff Foods, we now have a local presence that has come about as a result of developments and discussions with our trading partners. Rite Stuff Foods is firmly established in the U.S. and has an excellent network.”
For more information about this transaction, please contact the Liberty Ridge Advisors deal team:
Michael Bennett
Managing Partner
mbennett@libertyra.com
(206) 422-0102
Leif Johnson
Managing Partner
ljohnson@libertyra.com
(206) 683-3814
About Liberty Ridge Advisors
Liberty Ridge Advisors provides merger and acquisition advisory services for Pacific Northwest privately held businesses including capital transactions, mergers, acquisitions and recapitalizations. Liberty Ridge Advisors offers concentrated experience and expertise in key industries including food products, aerospace, building materials and construction, general manufacturing and distribution, wine, and business and financial services. For more information about Liberty Ridge Advisors please visit our website at www.libertyra.com.
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Contact: Michael Bennett, Managing Partner, Liberty Ridge Advisors, LLC
Email: mbennett@libertyra.com
Phone: (206) 422-0102