Brewing tea. Glass cup with tea bag on light table

TreeHouse Foods Agrees to Add Harris Tea Private Brand Business to Portfolio

Dec. 2, 2024

Acquisition expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, brings vertical integration to TreeHouse’s existing tea business.

Andy Hanacek

TreeHouse Foods Inc. will acquire the private brand tea business operations of Harris Freeman & Co. Inc. (Harris Tea) for about $205 million, according to a release shared by TreeHouse Foods.

Included in the acquisition are Harris Tea’s Moorestown, N.J., and Marietta, Ga., manufacturing facilities, as well as approximately 300 employees. The deal allows for vertical integration across TreeHouse’s existing tea business and will be accretive to its overall growth and margins, the release noted.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025 and will be funded primarily with cash on hand. It fully satisfies the company’s obligation to either reinvest certain proceeds from the previously completed Meal Preparation sale or retire debt. The purchase price equals roughly 8.5 times trailing-12-mo. adjusted EBITDA, or 6.5x net of synergies and the net present value of future tax benefits.

“The acquisition of Harris Tea strengthens our competitive positioning in the fast-growing tea category and adds unique blending and sourcing capabilities that customers desire, building upon TreeHouse Foods’ category leadership, enhancing our position through additional depth and scale,” said Steve Oakland, chairman, chief executive officer and president of TreeHouse Foods.

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.