Ornua has sold a majority stake in its US food distribution business DPI Specialty Foods to Chicago-based private equity firm, Arbor Investments.
Ornua will maintain a minority stake in the DPI business, which has eight distribution facilities across the US and will continue to be led by its existing senior management team.
DPI’s sale is part of Ornua’s plans to reallocate capital and assets to support its continued investments in enhanced routes to market for Irish dairy products through its businesses around the world, including in the US, UK, Germany, Middle East, Africa and China.
Arbor Investments was identified by the agri-food company as an ideal equity partner thanks to its focus on acquiring premier companies in the food, beverage and related industries.
CEO of Ornua, Kevin Lane commented, “The sale of a majority stake in DPI allows us reinvest the significant proceeds in our core business of building routes to market for Irish dairy products.
“Arbor’s introduction to the business ensures that the hard work and achievement of the team at DPI can be further built upon in the years ahead.”
Gregory Purcell, Arbor Investments' CEO added, "Increasingly, retailers and foodservice operators are realizing the value of partnering with a distribution service provider like DPI who can provide geographic scale, individualized customer service and deep merchandising services.
"Going forward, we expect to deploy Arbor’s resources, capital and over 20 years of acquisition expertise to acquire family-owned specialty distributors to augment DPI’s strong foundation and further enhance its already formidable standing in the specialty food distribution industry.”
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Jenny Whelan. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
