Conagra Sells Chef Boyardee to Hometown Food Co. for $600 Million
The maker of Beefaroni and Mini ABC’s & 123’s will have a new owner, as Hometown Food Co. (part of the Brynwood Partners IX L.P. portfolio) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Chef Boyardee for $600 million from Conagra Brands Inc., according to a release.
Rumors of Conagra’s interest in divesting the brand had surfaced in December 2024. The Chef Boyardee products that are part of the transaction contributed approximately $450 million to Conagra's fiscal year 2024 net sales.
The acquisition includes assets and operations dedicated to the Chef Boyardee brand, such as an 820,000-sq.-ft. processing facility in Milton, Pa. However, it does not include the frozen skillet meals, which will be licensed by Hometown Food Company to Conagra, according to Conagra Brands’ announcement of the deal. The Milton plant employs about 500 people and will become Hometown’s fourth manufacturing facility.
The deal comes just a month short of what would have been the 25th anniversary of Conagra first acquiring Chef Boyardee in late May 2000, when it paid $2.9 billion to absorb International Home Foods Inc., which owned Chef Boyardee, PAM cooking spray and Gulden’s Mustard.
Chef Boyardee is an iconic brand providing shelf-stable, canned and microwavable meals for more than 100 years, founded by Italian chef Hector Boiardi after he immigrated to the U.S. from Italy in the early 1900s. The brand’s Beefaroni, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Mini ABC’s & 123’s and Mini Ravioli products are pasta-focused and well-known particularly among families with children.
This acquisition is the single largest acquisition in Brynwood’s 40-year history, the release noted. Hometown was formed by Brynwood in 2018 in order to acquire the rights to the Pillsbury shelf-stable baking products, as well as the Hungry Jack, Martha White and White Lily businesses.
Hometown has since acquired Arrowhead Mills and Birch Benders, and executed a merger with De Wafelbakkers. Adding Chef Boyardee is expected to drive Hometown’s annual gross revenues north of $1.6 billion. Henk Hartong, chairman and CEO of Brynwood Partners, said the company is confident it can reinvigorate the Chef Boyardee brand and extend into new formats quickly.
This addition brings Brynwood’s total manufacturing network to 20 facilities in the U.S., employing about 5,500 people. It also bumps Brynwood’s annual sales figure to more than $3.7 billion.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory review.
