Florida-based bakery business Hometown Foods USA has been backed by local private-equity firm Keystone Capital.
It plans to use the investment as a platform from which to “actively seek acquisition opportunities in the bakery space,” Keystone said.
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Financial details have not been disclosed and nor has the size of Keystone’s stake.
The baker’s product offering includes Mrs. W’s Wonderlicious bundt cakes, New York-style bagels, crème cakes, crumb bundt cakes and loaf cakes. The Miami business supplies in-store bakeries, club stores and the foodservice channel.
Hometown, which can trace its roots back more than 100 years, is run by the fourth generation of the Schwartzberg family.
The deal sees Chicago-based Keystone reunited with Kevin McDonough, who will operate as executive chairman and strategic adviser to Hometown Foods. He most-recently served as the president of Weston Foods’ frozen and biscuit businesses and prior to that he was the president of Keystone Bakeries Holdings (KBH). Weston Foods acquired KBH, Keystone Capital’s bakery platform, in 2010.
Speaking about the Keystone deal, Hometown Foods president Troy Schwartzberg said: “Joining forces with Keystone will provide us with a greater level of resources and capabilities to serve our client partners and bring Mrs. W’s Wonderlicious bundt cakes and our other high-quality bakery products to an even wider audience – all while preserving our unique culture and unwavering commitment to baking quality and innovation.”
Chaoran Jin, managing director of Keystone, said: “We are excited to partner with the Schwartzberg family and continue the legacy they’ve built at Hometown Foods. We see a great opportunity to further enhance Hometown’s customer reach, product capabilities as well as channel expansion through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.”
