The J.M. Smucker Co. is selling its organic grains and beverage businesses to a private equity firm for about $110 million.
The deal will include R.W. Knudsen fruit juices and TruRoots quinoa and other organic grains, as well as manufacturing and distribution facilities in Chico, Calif., and Havre de Grace, Md. It also includes a distribution deal for Smucker’s Santa Cruz Organic beverages. Excluded from the deal are Santa Cruz Organic nut butters, fruit spreads, syrups and applesauce.
Collectively, the businesses being sold generated about $140 million in the last fiscal year. They will be sold to Nexus Capital Management LP.
In a related matter, Smucker announced that it will close and seek to sell its production facility in Ripon, Wis. That plant’s production of fruit spreads, toppings, syrups and condiments will be shifted to a plant near Smucker’s corporate headquarters in Orrsville, Ohio.
"This transaction supports our strategy to direct investments and resources toward core brands positioned for growth," senior vice president Tina Floyd said in a statement.
This was the second divestiture Smucker has announced in December. On Dec. 1, it revealed the sale of its private label dry pet food business to Diamond Pet Foods. The $33 million deal includes a processing plant in Frontenac, Kansas.
