Tricor Pacific Founders Capital acquires Keybrand Foods

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By Ted Liu

Tricor Pacific Founders Capital Inc. has acquired the business and Kitchener real estate assets of Keybrand Foods Inc., a leading, manufacturer of branded and private label wet salads, hand-rolled products and fruit salads.

Kitchener, Ontario based Keybrand Foods Inc. has operations in Delisle, Saskatchewan and Charlottetown, PEI, serving retail, foodservice and co-manufacturing customers.

Tricor Pacific Founders has made its investment in Keybrand through Freshstone Brands Inc., a newly formed company under Freshstone Kitchen Inc. which holds Tricor’s investment in Keybrand, Fresh Selections as well as future investments in prepared foods businesses.

“The prepared foods and home meal replacement industry is an attractive and growing market. We hope to make further acquisitions in this space adding capabilities and expanding our footprint over the next few years,” said Derek Senft, Managing Director of Tricor who led the transaction.

“We look forward to working with Tricor Founders, who bring specific food industry experience and operating resources to the table and have a long-term investment horizon,” said Mike Swan, Vice President of Keybrand.

“The acquisition is consistent with our strategy of making control investments in food businesses, with EBITDA of $3 to $10 million, across Canada and the Mid-West and Western USA,” added Richard Harris, Managing Director of Tricor who will lead Keybrand as the Executive Chairman of Freshstone Brands. “We are also pleased to announce the hiring of Steven Diakowsky as President & CEO of Freshstone Brands. Steve is an experienced food industry CEO, with recent stints at Taste of Nature and Allan Candy.”

Ernst & Young acted as financial advisor to Keybrand. Tricor Pacific Founders Capital was advised by Bryan & Company, Collins Barrow, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Scotiabank and Roynat provided debt financing for the transaction.

photo credit: Keybrand Foods