Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Foods to buy US frozen-food producer Bellisio for $1.075 bn

Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl (CPF), controlled by Thailand's richest man Dhanin Chearavanont today struck a deal to buy US frozen-food producer Bellisio Parent LLC from private equity firm Centre Partners Management for $1.075 billion.

New York-based Centre Partners Management had acquired Bellisio in 2011 for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition is in line with CPF's strategy to expand into high-potential markets, Adirek Sripratak, CEO of CPF said in a statement.

Founded in 1990, Bellisio is the third largest producer and distributor of single serve frozen entrees in the US by unit share, with well-known household brands such as, Michelina's, Boston Market, Chili's, and Atkins.

Outside the US, Bellisio is also the leader in the single serve frozen entrees market in Canada. The group has a total of 4 facilities located in Ohio, California and Minnesota and sells its products through US retailers having over 50,000 distribution points.

For the last twelve months ending September 2016, Bellisio group generated adjusted net sales of $668 million and adjusted EBITDA of $82 million.

Joel Conner, chairman and CEO of Bellisio group said, ''We are deeply grateful to Centre Partners for their support and guidance since partnering with us 5 years ago. At the same time, we are also extremely excited to be part of the CPF family and share their vision of being the 'Kitchen of the World'. I believe that our partnership with CPF will allow us to propel Bellisio through its next phase of growth.''

Adirek Sripratak said, "We believe that through leveraging our combined strengths at CPF and Bellisio group, we can bring greater variety of products particularly Asian food products, to US consumers as well as export our products globally.''

Charoen Pokphand Group is Thailand's largest private company and one of world's largest conglomerates.

Its core businesses operate in agribusiness and food, retail and distribution, and the telecommunications industries with investments in over 20 countries.
 
Founded in 1921, the Bangkok-based group currently employs over 500,000 people and has a combined market cap of over $150 billion.