GREENWICH, CT - April 20, 2005 - Brynwood Partners V L.P. announced today that it acquired a majority ownership in Braintree, MA based Richelieu Foods, Inc. on April 15th from the domestic and overseas private equity funds of Weiss, Peck & Greer Investments, an affiliate of Robeco USA. The Weiss, Peck & Greer funds will continue to hold a minority interest in Richelieu. Terms were not disclosed.
As the majority stockholder, Brynwood will have operating control over the company. Henk Hartong III, a Managing Partner of Brynwood Partners V, stated "We are very pleased to add Richelieu as one of our new investments in the Brynwood Partners V Fund. We will be working closely with management to enhance Richelieu's product offerings, improve operations and broaden its retail customer base."
Mike Jones, Senior Managing Director of Robeco USA stated "We are pleased to add Brynwood as a partner on the Richelieu investment. We believe that their expertise in the food industry will help maximize the return to our investors with respect to the funds' continuing interest in Richelieu."
About Richelieu Foods Richelieu is a leading manufacturer in the private label food industry focused on the frozen pizza, salad dressing and deli salad product categories. Richelieu operates three state of the art manufacturing facilities located in Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa. For more information on Richelieu Foods, please visit www.richelieufoods.com.
About Brynwood Partners Founded in 1984, Brynwood Partners is a private equity fund that invests in lower middle market companies, has a long-term investment holding period and targets companies operating in the consumer products, light industrial manufacturing, specialty retailing and business services industries. The Brynwood Funds have made investments in 19 portfolio companies and have successfully partnered with management and owners who want to continue to run their businesses but need the financial and operating partner support Brynwood uniquely provides. Brynwood Partners is based in Greenwich, CT. For more information on Brynwood please visit www.BrynwoodPartners.com.