65ccefa90eebae001ee67e4f Shutterstock 1943228233

Shearer’s Foods Acquisition by Clayton Dubilier & Rice Completed

Feb. 14, 2024

Deal for the Massillon, Ohio-based snack manufacturer was announced in December 2023.

Private investment firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has completed the acquisition of Massillon, Ohio-based Shearer’s Foods from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers), according to a release distributed by CD&R. The acquisition was first announced in December 2023.

The snack foods contract manufacturer and private label supplier has 17 state-of-the-art, geographically diverse manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Iowa, Ontario and Alberta, and has made a name for itself by producing the highest quality snacks in assorted flavors and sizes, including kettle cooked potato chips, traditional potato chips, tortilla chips, cheese curls and other extruded snacks, and corn chips, as well as cookies, crackers, and wafers.

Mark McNeil, CEO of Shearer’s, said in the release that CD&R’s leadership, expertise and vision “creates an incredible opportunity for Shearer’s to accelerate our growth trajectory.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.