NASHVILLE, TENN. — Crown Bakeries announced the acquisition of the Pleasant Prairie, Wis., manufacturing facility from Chicago-based Gold Standard Baking.
The 200,000-square-foot baking plant, which opened in 2017, produces and distributes laminated dough croissant products. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
With the addition of the Pleasant Prairie facility, Crown Bakeries will crank out more than 10 million baked croissants per week, making Crown one of the largest fresh and frozen croissant bakers in North America. The company also bakes buns, bagels, biscuits, sweet goods, and dough products.
Yianny Caparos, president of Crown Bakeries, said the Pleasant Prairie facility will bolster the company’s capabilities and expand its geographic footprint in the Midwest.
“Pleasant Prairie’s high-speed croissant line gives Crown much-needed additional capacity in laminated dough,” Mr. Caparos said. “Growing Crown’s production capabilities and bandwidth is critical to providing best-in-class service to our customers nationwide while building redundancy and flexibility in our broader manufacturing network.”
Crown Bakeries is owned by Arbor Investments, a private equity firm that focuses exclusively on acquiring companies in food, beverage and related industries.
In October 2019, Arbor announced the recapitalization of Crown Bakeries, formerly The Bakery Cos., with Cordia Harrington, its founder and chief executive officer. Arbor also has made significant investments to grow the bakery business both organically and through acquisitions.
“Providing a robust and redundant supply chain is more critical to our customers today than ever before,” said Chris Tuffin, a partner with Arbor Investments. “Pleasant Prairie becomes Crown’s ninth manufacturing facility, making Crown a formidable national baker. The facility is not only highly attractive in terms of geography but also offers additional floor space ready to accommodate further investment and expansion. This addition is truly a win for Crown and ultimately its customers.”
Winston & Strawn served as Arbor’s and Crown’s legal counsel in connection with the transaction.