US-based Ellison Bakery has been acquired for an undisclosed sum by QualiTech, a manufacturer of plant nutrition, animal nutrition, and food ingredient products.

Minnesota-based QualiTech is a portfolio company of investment business MidOcean Partners. It bought Ellison from another local investor, Tilia Holdings.

Ellison, founded in 1945 and headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, manufactures cookies, snack bars, crunches, toppings and inclusion ingredients for the retail, foodservice and private-label channels.

Explaining the thinking behind the deal, QualiTech owner MidOcean said it identified Ellison as a priority add-on acquisition target early in the underwriting process due to the “highly complementary nature of its products to the ingredient solutions that QualiTech provides”.

Steven Loeffler, New York-based MidOcean’s managing director, said: “The transformational combination of these two businesses, the first major acquisition following our investment in QualiTech, reinforces QualiTech’s position as a differentiated ingredients platform and provides an entry into compelling new product applications and end markets.”

Rick Pedersen, CEO of QualiTech, said: “Bringing Ellison into the QualiTech family will be beneficial for both companies as well as our customers. Both organisations have rich legacies of bespoke R&D, differentiated customer service and superior product quality.

“As a combined platform, we will be able to scale services, build additional product capabilities, and unlock access to a larger addressable market. The acquisition accelerates QualiTech’s efforts to lead the industry in providing speciality ingredients that enhance the sensory components of consumers’ favourite foods and positions our business for long-term success.”

Stephanie Chattillion, CEO of Ellison Bakery, said: “We are excited to partner with QualiTech and to leverage MidOcean’s resources and expertise in the food business to drive success for the combined company. QualiTech’s approach to customer service uniquely aligns with our own culture and commitment to delivering high-quality products to our customers.

"We look forward to expanding the breadth of products that we can offer and creating a leading customised food inclusion and ingredients platform.”