Co-Manufacturer Crest Foods Sold to Harwood Private Equity

Crest Foods, an Ashton, Ill.-based manufacturer of dairy stabilizers, contract packaging, and branded and private-label dry foods, has been sold by Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. (BGL) to private investor Harwood Private Equity. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Crest Foods was founded in 1946 and provides food manufacturing, packaging and product development services to branded and private-label customers, across three business lines: ingredients; contract packaging; and consumer products.

Within the ingredients business, Crest develops proprietary stabilizer formulations and recipes for dairy products such as cottage cheese, cream cheese, yogurt and dairy protein- and plant-based beverages. The contract packaging business focuses on servicing branded and private-label food companies, while the consumer products division specializes in outsource product development and turn-key manufacturing services for branded food companies.

Crest is expected to embark on a new phase of growth under Harwood’s watch. In conjunction with the acquisition, BGL facilitated a sale-leaseback of the 575,000-sq.-ft. facility in Ashton, in which Crest operates, via TPG Angelo Gordon’s Net Lease business, the news release said.