B&G Foods savors Specialty Brands deal

The Bear Creek Country Kitchens brand is now part of the B&G Foods portfolio of brands following B&G’s acquisition of the dry soup line and other brands from Specialty Brands of America.

The Bear Creek brand of hearty dry soups is the largest brand in the Specialty Brands of America portfolio which also includes Spring Tree, Cary’s and MacDonald’s brand pure maple syrups, New York Flatbreads and Canoleo margarine.

B&G acquired Specialty Brands from the private equity group American Capital in an all cash $155 million deal that is expected to add first year sales of $85 million and operating profits of $20 million to B&G.

“We are excited to have reached an agreement to acquire Specialty Brands of America. Under the leadership of American Capital and Dom Bastien, the founder and chief executive officer of Specialty Brands, the company has built a solid and profitable business that continues to grow,” said David L. Wenner, president and CEO of B&G Foods. “We look forward to welcoming Specialty Brands into our family of brands. These brands complement very well our existing portfolio of brands and we believe that B&G Foods will be able to enhance the growth prospects of these brands. In addition, consistent with our acquisition strategy, we expect the acquisition to be immediately accretive to our earnings per share and free cash flow.”

B&G portfolio of brands includes a wide range of niche products and lesser known brands such as Ac’cent, B&M, Baker’s Joy, Brer Rabbit, Cream of Rice, Cream of Wheat, Devonsheer, Don Pepino, Emeril’s, Grandma’s Molasses, JJ Flats, Joan of Arc, Las Palmas, Maple Grove Farms, Molly McButter, Mrs. Dash, New York Style, Old London, Original Tings, Ortega, Pirate’s Booty, Polaner, Red Devil, Regina, Rickland Orchards, Sa-són, Sclafani, Smart Puffs, Sugar Twin, Trappey’s, TrueNorth, Underwood, Vermont Maid and Wright’s. B&G Foods also sells and distributes two branded household products, Static Guard and Kleen Guard.