West Madison Foods, a newly formed portfolio company of Brynwood Partners IX L.P., will acquire the Marie’s salad dressing brand and the Dean’s Dip business from Ventura Foods LLC. Included in the deal will be the Thornton, Ill., processing plant where both products are manufactured, a release from Brynwood stated.
West Madison Foods will be headquartered in Chicago, with the Thornton facility supporting the business. That plant employs approximately 84 full-time employees, and the announcement stated that a small group of Marie’s and Dean’s brand employees may also transition to West Madison Foods employment in the deal.
Marie’s produces premium salad dressings, dips and spreads, and the Dean’s Dip business produces dips and spreads. The transaction represents the third in the past seven months by Brynwood, with the company having acquired Birch Benders in December 2022 and Uno Foods in March 2023.
Brynwood Partners’ portfolio includes Harvest Hill Beverage Co., Carolina Beverage Group, Hometown Food Co., Buitoni Food Co. and Great Kitchens Food Co. — with 17 facilities, approximately 4,700 employees and more than $2.6 billion in annual sales.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
