Great Kitchens Food Company: Acquires Uno Foods

Chicago / IL. (gkf) Great Kitchens Food Company, a leading U.S. manufacturer of private label take-and-bake pizzas and flatbreads wholly-owned by Brynwood Partners VIII L.P., has completed the acquisition of the Uno Foods division of Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation from its owner, Newport Global Advisors.

Founded in 1943, Pizzeria Uno is an iconic and authentic brand that is recognized as the birthplace of Chicago-style deep dish pizza. The Uno Foods division was established in 1988 to continue the success and rich heritage of the famous Pizzeria Uno brand. Uno Foods manufactures and distributes frozen and refrigerated branded pizzas, calzones, entrees and appetizers across the grocery store, wholesale club, foodservice and e-commerce channels. Uno Foods manufactures all products from its frozen foods facility in Brockton, MA.

«We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Uno Foods into Great Kitchens Food Company,» said Henk Hartong, Chairman and CEO of Brynwood Partners. «Great Kitchens employs over 800 people in its Chicago based plants and corporate headquarters in Chicago Heights and Romeoville. We are delighted to add the iconic Pizzeria Uno brand to our frozen portfolio. We welcome the Brockton, MA facility to our business and look forward to making investments into that location as we work to expand the reach of the Pizzeria Uno brand.»

«On behalf of everyone at Brynwood Partners, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Newport team for being such great partners to us on this transaction. In conjunction with this transaction, we are pleased to announce that we have promoted Admir Basic to the role of President and CEO of Great Kitchens. We have tremendous confidence in Admir as he will continue to lead Great Kitchens and oversee the integration of Uno Foods.»

«On behalf of the Newport team, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Brynwood team for their partnership in bringing this transaction to fruition. As a Chicago-based business, Great Kitchens is the ideal new owner of the Uno Foods business,» said Tim Janszen, CEO of Newport Global Advisors.

The Brynwood Partners portfolio includes Harvest Hill Beverage Company, Carolina Beverage Group, Hometown Food Company, Buitoni Food Company and Great Kitchens Food Company. Uno Foods increases the total Brynwood manufacturing network to 16 facilities, more than 4,500 employees and approximately USD 2.5 billion in annual sales.

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