Pinnacle Foods Acquired by Blackstone Group

13/02/07 The Blackstone Group has acquired Pinnacle Foods for $2.15 billion. Roger Deromedi, the former CEO of Kraft Foods Inc., will assume the role of chairman upon the closing of the transaction, which is expected in the first half of this year.

Pinnacle Foods produces a number of leading consumer brands, including Duncan Hines baking mixes, Vlasic pickles, Hungry Man and Swanson frozen dinners, Log Cabin and Mrs. Buttersworth’s syrups, Armour canned meat, Lender’s bagels, Aunt Jemima breakfast foods, Celeste pizza, and Van de Kamp’s and Mrs. Paul’s seafood.

Last March, Pinnacle Foods acquired the Dial Corporation's Armour food products business for $183 million.

In addition to Mr. Deromedi and Mr. Ansell (current CEO of Pinnacle Foods), Joe Jimenez – former Executive Vice President of H.J. Heinz Company – will join Pinnacle Foods’ board as a director. Mr. Jimenez has more than twenty years of experience in the food industry at Heinz, ConAgra, and The Clorox Company.

Pinnacle Foods employs more than 3,000 people, owns seven manufacturing facilities in the United States, and generates approximately $2.1 billion in annual gross sales.