B&G Foods adds Clabber Girl to portfolio of baking brands
The New Jersey-based food giant has finalized its acquisition of the baking ingredients provider from wholesale foods supplier Hulman & Company for $80m.
Indiana-based Clabber Girl is a leading brand of baking powder in the US, which it has produced for over 150 years, along with baking soda and cornstarch.
The company’s product portfolio also includes the Rumford, Davis, Hearth Club and Royal brands for retail and foodservice.
Clabber Girl joins other baking brands in B&G’s extensive portfolio of companies, including Grandma’s, Brer Rabbit, Baker’s Joy and Dec-A-Cake.
According to B&G, it expects the baking brand to generate approximately $70-$75m of net sales annually.
Longstanding acquisition strategy
B&G has adopted an aggressive M&A stance in the past dozen years, which is certainly reaping rewards.
In the decade between 1997 and 2017, it acquired 20 companies – including cookie and granola maker Back to Nature from Mondelēz for $163m, and McCann’s brand of premium Irish oatmeal from TreeHouse Foods for approximately $32m – growing sales by 985% from $129m to $1.4bn.
In 2018, the company posted revenue of $1.7bn.
“We are pleased to announce the addition of Clabber Girl to our portfolio of brands,” said Kenneth G. Romanzi, president and CEO of B&G Foods.
“This acquisition is consistent with our longstanding acquisition strategy of targeting well-established brands with defensible market positions and strong cash flow at reasonable purchase price multiples.
“Clabber Girl Corporation is the number one manufacturer of branded retail baking powder and also holds leadership positions in baking soda and cornstarch.”
B&G Foods funded the acquisition with cash on hand and revolving loans under its existing credit facility.
