Partners Group, Charlesbank Capital Partners to acquire Hearthside Food Solutions
Charlesbank Capital Partners and Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, acting on behalf of its clients, have agreed to acquire Hearthside Food Solutions, the largest independent bakery in the United States, in partnership with management.
Charlesbank Capital Partners and Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, acting on behalf of its clients, have agreed to acquire Hearthside Food Solutions, the largest independent bakery in the United States, in partnership with management. The company is being acquired from Goldman Sachs and Vestar Capital Partners.
Headquartered in Downers Grove, Ill., Hearthside produces a broad range of nutrition bars, cookies, cereals, and other baked foods and snacks for premier food brands. It operates 25 manufacturing facilities across the United States and Europe and employs around 7,900 people.
Following the investment, Partners Group and Charlesbank will work closely with Hearthside’s management team, led by Rich Scalise, on a number of value creation initiatives. These will be focused on promoting organic growth by providing customers with an even wider range of innovative product solutions, executing select add-on acquisitions to further expand the business into adjacent industries and geographies, and optimizing existing manufacturing processes.
“By combining flexibility and innovation with quality and scale, we have been able to achieve our vision of transforming Hearthside into one of the leading and fastest-growing companies in the food industry,” Rich Scalise, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Hearthside. “Today, we are delighted to be welcoming Partners Group and Charlesbank as partners for the next chapter of our success story and would like to thank Goldman and Vestar for their valuable partnership over the past few years.”